The Awakening
by MikeRedJurassic10
Summary: Conner is captured on the Reach Ship and then tortured by Psimon and Gorilla Grodd by erasing his memories. Due to miscommunication, they are given back to him. The Light soon realizes they have awakened his telepathic abilities doing so and they convince him to join them. Follow him on a path to darkness. Rated T for mild swearing, mild violence, etc.
1. Depths

_**Chapter 1: Depths**_

 _ **This story will have the same dialogue from season 2 but will be slightly altered with some extra dialogue that did not appear in the show.**_

 _ **Superboy, overtime in this story, will be heavily influenced by his Prime Earth (New 52) counterpart, so that includes telepathy (which allows him to fly) and telekinesis.**_

 _ **Young Justice belongs to DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation.**_

…

 _ **Cape Canaveral**_

 _ **March 19, 21:16 EDT**_

Nightwing and Artemis were on the top of a watchtower, using binoculars to search for any enemy activity. The Team's mission was to protect a new Communications satellite, by the Ferris Aircraft company, from being destroyed by Black Manta's forces which included their former leader, Aqualad.

"I know I'm not Wally's favorite person right about now but… it is nice to have you back." Nightwing commented, smiling at her.

She returned it as she put down her binoculars and grabbed her bow to tinker with it, "It's nice to be back. And I didn't realize how much I've been missing it. Which is pretty much exactly what Wally is afraid of. He's worried the _rush_ that comes with the mask… will get its hooks in and… I won't give it up until my dying day."

Nightwing kept his smile on, "I know exactly what you mean."

"Yeah," She sighed as she looked at the night sky, "Is this gonna work?"

"You being undercover with Kaldur?"

She nodded, "I'm worried. What if the plan doesn't work?"

"It has to. You will be fine with Kaldur."

"Okay. I'm changing the subject."

"Anything else you want to talk about?"

"What really happened to them?"

"Who?"

"Conner and M'gann. Their relationship? I mean… they seemed so perfect for each other."

His smile turned into a scowl, "I wouldn't say that in front of Conner or M'gann right now."

"Do you know?"

He sighed, "Not one bit."

…

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

They were both there, without saying a word to each other.

"So… now we're never talking again?" Miss Martian asked. She was sitting on the Bio-Ships controls, her hands on the spheres.

"Gee, you read my mind," Superboy replied bitterly, turning his head to look at her.

M'gann rolled her eyes and sighed, "I don't have to read your mind to know how you feel, Conner. But the breakup was your idea."

Turning his chair, he retorted, "Don't pretend you don't know why!"

She raised her left arm, not wanting Conner to remind her, "I know! I know! You disapprove of how I use my psychic powers."

"You mean how you abuse them! Ripping intel from the minds of your victims, with no concern for what it does to their psyches!" He exclaimed indignantly.

She exclaimed back, "They're not victims! They're the BAD GUYS! That information is helping the Team, the League, the entire planet!"

"And leaving your _victims…_ in a catatonic state!" He corrected her, "It's not right, M'gann! You're behaving no better than Psimon!"

Her face said it all. She felt offended as she mildly dropped her jaw then closed it before speaking again, "If you feel that strongly, why not tell Nightwing? Or the League?"

Conner frowned and breathed slowly, "I was hoping… I mattered enough for you to make you stop. I didn't think you'd try to tamper with my mind… try and make me forget I was upset with you."

M'gann lowered her eyes in sadness, "Conner… I'm sorry about that."

He turned his chair back to the console, "Sorry you did it? Or sorry you got caught?"

He refused to look at her again, while she stared at him.

"After all we've been through," Conner spoke in a sad tone but did not shed a tear, "How could you think I wouldn't recognize your touch inside my mind? Didn't you know what that touch meant to me?"

Water formed in M'gann's eyes and wiped them while Conner continued to speak.

"And to have you… _perverted_ like that. Guess I was kidding myself. I mean… how replaceable was I? Two minutes after I ended our relationship you're dating the _rebound guy_ from the Black Lagoon."

"La'gaan is NOT my rebound guy."

"Well lucky La'gaan," he said as he stood up to gaze at the night stars.

M'gann kept a frown on her face as she rummaged through old memories of her and Conner. They were perfect times. Then the mistakes happened. But that was all part of a relationship. So she didn't know why attacking people psychically was such a big deal. Then she thought, was it really only her fault?

"I'm not the only reason we broke up. Am I?"

He didn't respond for a full ten seconds, "Of course not."

Now M'gann was curious to know what that other reason was, without invading Conner's mind because she knew he would have snapped at her. And not in a good way, "Did you… fall in love with someone else?"

"No."

"Did you… just stop loving me?"

"I could never stop loving you," Conner looked at her again, "I still do, M'gann."

"Then why do you act as if you hate me?"

"I don't hate you. I just hate what you did and still do. Especially what happened two months ago when you fried the brain of that Krolotean."

She frowned, "Conner… what are you asking me to do?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want you to stop."

"You know I can't."

He breathed from his nose.,"If you want to keep frying brains to get intel, fine. But you and the _rookie_ better stop showing your affections in front of me."

" _Rookie?_ " She couldn't believe his insult on La'gaan, "Seriously?"

He shrugged, "Well, he is. You can't deny that."

She couldn't. La'gaan WAS a rookie on the Team. But she complied, "Alright, no more affection in front of you."

"Thank you," he said in a mocking voice.

Conner felt as if their conversation had come to an end, but for M'gann, it wasn't. She wanted to know one more thing, "But what's the other reason?"

He did not speak. This other reason was more of his problem, not M'gann's. Something he refused to tell anyone, even Superman.

"Conner?"

" _Woah."_ La'gaan expressed in the link, " _Heads up. We got a lot of bad guys."_

" _How many?"_ Artemis inquired.

" _A lot. Black Manta's troopers. They're establishing… some kind of platform beneath the surface just offshore. I'm taking them down."_

" _Belay that, Lagoon Boy. Wait for backup."_ Nightwing stopped him.

" _Hold on_ , _I'll get a rebreather and help the rookie out."_ Conner insulted again.

" _Conner!"_ M'gann chastised.

"' _Rookie'!? Neptune's Beard, I DON'T NEED ANY HELP FROM THE BOY OF STEEL!"_ Lagoon Boy exclaimed as he turned into his puffer mode and attacked the troopers.

" _Lagoon Boy! Stand down!"_ Nightwing ordered.

" _Sorry, but you're breaking up!"_ He said while making static sounds.

Nightwing groaned, " _There's no static on a psychic link!"_

As La'gaan attacked the troopers, several of them swam to the surface. Artemis and Nightwing grappled down to face them.

" _Superboy! Did you get that rebreather yet?"_ Nightwing asked.

" _Negative."_

" _Why not!?"_

" _Why? Because the ROOKIE didn't refill them,"_ he didn't care if he insulted Lagoon Boy anymore. He hated his guts anyways, "M'gann, help your boyfriend out! I'll control the Bio-Ship!"

"Understood."

…

 _ **Three Hours Later…**_

…

 _ **Black Manta's Command Ship**_

 _ **March 20, 00:00 EDT**_

Aqualad, in his black armor, walked towards his father, Black Manta, surrounded by his troops.

"Congratulations, Kaldur'ahm," he said, "You had quite a day. Capturing the Atlantean and killing a former teammate. And… destroying the Communication Satellite."

"My crew did not destroy it, father. Its rocket must have malfunctioned," Kaldur said disappointedly, his eyes pointing to the floor, "Our victory was pure luck."

"I don't believe in… _luck_. Which is why I arranged to have a bomb with an altitude sensor smuggled onto the Com-Sat's rocket days ago."

Aqualad looked up slightly shocked as Black Manta continued, "THIS… was your final test. To see if you would take credit for something you did not accomplish."

"And… what if I had succeeded?"

"Then another test would have awaited. For it is not success where a true character is revealed… but in failure," Black Manta concluded as he took off his helmet, "I am quite proud of you, my boy."

He placed a hand on his son's shoulder, who was smiling, "You are ready for the next level."

"What is it, father?"

"The Light calls for another in your former team." Black Manta said a name, but it sounded muffled in Aqualad's ears.

His eyes widened as he heard it. _No. Not him._

…

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **March 20, 03:58 EDT**_

It was not a good day for M'gann. La'gaan is captured by Black Manta's forces, and Artemis is seemingly killed by Aqualad. Superboy found no heartbeat.

In the living room, the team mourned together while M'gann sat on the couch, crying alone. Conner could only watch her in silence. He wanted to comfort her, but stopped mid-way and instead let Beast Boy, her adoptive brother, comfort her.

Mal and Karen walked up to him as he told them, "We have to find La'gaan. AND Aqualad." He said 'Aqualad' in a bitter tone.

"No doubt," Mal said, "Where's Nightwing? He should be here."

Superboy sighed painfully, "He went to tell Wally."

Mal and Karen exchanged shocked looks, to which Karen said, "That's not gonna end well."

"Nothing does," Superboy shook his head slowly as he leaned on the wall behind him, "The world is changing. And here I am. Still the same."

"Don't worry, one day… maybe you will finally age."

He chuckled coldly before walking away, "That one day is… never."

M'gann was still crying, her head on Beast Boy's shoulders.

"It's gonna be alright sis. We'll get Aqualad and take him down. I'm sure of it!" He reassured her, trying to make her smile at least.

She gave a weak smile and wiped away her tears, "Yeah. We'll get him."

Then she noticed Conner walking away. Maybe he could cheer her up more, "Thank you, Gar. Excuse me."

Gar did not say anything as he saw where she was going. He grinned, " _There you go. Crawl back to him, sis!"_

" _Shut up."_

…

"Conner!" M'gann said as she followed him into the hallway, "Where are you going?"

He stopped to look at her, surprised to see her, "I'm… going to bed."

"But… your room is on the far left corridor." She corrected him as she pointed.

Superboy's eyes squinted and couldn't help but smirk, "Where are you going?"

She blushed and widened her eyes, "I… I want to take a shower."

"But the bathroom's _that_ way." He pointed to the right corridor.

"Right." They stood there in silence. Very awkward.

"Actually I'm…", he scratched his head, "Heading out for a walk."

"Oh. Well… can I… uh…"

Conner raised an eyebrow, not wanting to look annoyed. However, he wasn't. Just very curious.

"Can I join you?" She asked.

"Umm…"

"Please?"

He looked at her orange eyes. Oh, how he loved to gaze at them from time to time. It may sound disturbing, but how could anyone blame him?

After some time thinking, Conner sighed as he took off his fingerless gloves and un-tightened his belt, taking it off, to loosen his pants a bit, so it could make him seem more casual in public, "Alright."

…

 _ **Providence, Rhode Island**_

 _ **March 20, 04:00 EDT**_

Their walk together was quiet. They barely spoke to each other. But M'gann wanted to join, so she knew she couldn't say anything. Most would find this boring. Not for her. They may not be together anymore, but she still loved Conner's company.

As they walked on the sidewalk that overlooked the Providence Canal, M'gann stopped walking.

"You alright?" Conner noticed and turned around. He moved towards her.

The waters formed again in her eyes. She shook violently, breathed irregularly and almost fell. Luckily, Conner was fast enough to catch her.

"Hey, it's alright." He rubbed her back.

"Oh, God! Conner, she's gone!" She reached out and cried on his shoulder, eyes closed as the tears flowed, "And they took him as well!"

"I know," he shed a tear as well but quickly wiped it before reassuring her, "Don't worry. We'll find La'gaan and bring him back to you."

M'gann opened her eyes and moved her head to look at him, "But… you hate him. Don't you?"

"I do," he said easily, "But even if he's a jerk in my eyes, he's good for you. Because he makes you happy. And if you're happy… then I'm happy."

"Conner," Miss Martian placed a hand on his cheek, "Thank you."

He smiled at her and helped her stand, "You're welcome."

…

They went to the park and up a hill to lie down and look at the stars. They were there, so why not?

"It's beautiful, isn't it? The stars." Conner said.

M'gann replied, "Yeah they are."

"Can I tell you something I never told the others about?"

"Sure."

He reached out with his left arm and spoke, "Every night… I'd always dream about flying into the skies."

The Martian smiled, looking at him, "Sounds nice."

"Yeah. I always get snippets of what my future could be; finding a girl, getting married, having kids, a nice home with a white picket fence. I see them grow old," then he frowned as he brought his arm down, "But what about me? I'm still the same."

Her smile turned upside down, "Conner…"

"Don't you see, M'gann? It's me."

"W...what?"

"Me. I'm the other reason why I broke up with you."

M'gann raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"Come on. Look at me," he sat up and gestured his whole being, "What do you see?"

It was her turn to sit up, "I see Conner Kent. That's who I see."

"Really?" He snorted as he stood up quickly, "Because I see a curse."

"You are not a curse, Conner."

"M'gann, I can't visibly age! Can't you see that I'm… _suffering_ on the inside?"

"Then let me help you," She said honestly, standing up as well.

As she walked towards him, he moved back, "M'gann, don't bother."

"Conner… let me." Her tone wasn't forceful. It was sweet. Her arm stretched to touch his head but he stopped her.

"Please. Don't." He let go of her arm.

"Sorry."

He started to walk to the park's exit, "Let's go back. And we're not having this discussion with anyone else."

"Okay." She said disappointedly, but she knew that him stopping her was probably a better idea.

…

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

 _ **Blüdhaven**_

 _ **March 20, 04:00 EDT**_

The four out of the original six members gathered in the docks; Nightwing, Kid Flash, Artemis, and Aqualad.

"I believe our ruse was successful?" Aqualad inquired.

"Almost too successful," Nightwing spoke quietly, "Everyone's in mourning. They may never forgive us."

"And still only the four of us know the secret?"

"This secret… and the other. That you've been in deep cover within Black Manta's organization since leaving the Team. How'd it go on that end?"

"Successful as well. I've proven my loyalty to my biological father. He is moving me up the ladder, bringing me closer to the Light. And their unknown partner."

Nightwing shook his head, "Not without cost, Kaldur. The Com-Sat wasn't supposed to be destroyed. And La'gaan definitely wasn't supposed to be captured!"

The Atlantean sighed sadly, "It was the only way to save his life, and to maintain my cover."

"I'm not blaming you," Batman's protege walked up to him and placed his hand on Kaldur's shoulder, "I know you've been forced to make impossible decisions. Like choosing between saving the Kroloteans on Malina Island…"

"Or saving my friends. I will find a way to help La'gaan. You have my word."

Artemis spoke up this time, "So what now?"

Nightwing grabbed something from his utility belt. It was a necklace with a golden crystal. He put it around her.

"Uh… dude? Why are you giving bling to my dead girlfriend." He joked in a serious tone.

"It's a glamor charm. Courtesy of Zatanna. A… physio-morphic spell I think? She set it backward."

"Wow." Wally stared at her, "You look… exactly the same."

"Only to the four of us." Nightwing pointed out, "To anyone else… you're an entirely different person."

A puddle on top of an oil barrel reflected on Artemis's face. Her hair was black instead of blonde.

"The more impressive trick is how you got something so specific from Zatanna," Artemis commented, "Without revealing who or what it was for."

"Well…" He rubbed the back of his neck, "We have a _history._ "

"Heh, 'dog'." Wally nudged his best friend's side.

Kaldur spoke, "It is time."

Before departing, Artemis and Wally embraced tightly and kissed.

"What could go wrong?" Artemis joked, making Wally chuckle.

"Don't say that." He replied with a grin as Dick came in to hug Artemis as well.

"Good luck, Artemis," Dick said.

Then Wally looked at Kaldur, who was staring into the oblivion, contemplating something. The speedster's eyes squinted.

"Hold on… I don't mean to be rude or anything but, I think there's something you're not telling us, Kaldur?" Wally said. The other two turned to look at their undercover leader.

Kaldur sighed again, "My apologies. The Light has given me a mission if I were to get even closer. I had no choice but to accept it."

"What?" Nightwing was nervous.

"The Light is calling for someone in the Team. And he must be retrieved ASAP."

"Who?"

"...Superboy."

All their eyes widened, _Shit._

"What are we going to do?" Artemis asked anxiously, "The last thing we want is our strongest member knowing our secret and rant at us for not telling anyone... or worse."

"...Join the bad guys." Wally winced. They all looked at each other, exchanging expressions of worry and fear

"Don't worry, we'll think this through," Nightwing placed his hand on his chin, thinking of a possible solution, "You two go."

Artemis and Aqualad nodded. The latter said, "I apologize, truly. I do _NOT_ want Conner dragged into this."

"You had no choice," Wally shrugged with a monotone voice, "What else were you supposed to do?"

…

Wally and Dick watched Aqualad and Artemis jump into a Black Manta submarine, from the top of a building.

Once the submarine submerged underground, Nightwing spoke, "That's the hard part done. They're in."

"Who the hell are you kidding?" Wally retorted, "It only gets _MORE_ dangerous from here."

"Wally…"

"And now the Light wants Conner as well!?" He was fuming with anger, "Don't tell me that you're gonna fake his death?"

"No. I can't," Nightwing shook his head in disapproval, "That would cause more pain to the Team than it already has."

"Then what?"

Nightwing looked down at his feet and after a moment's silence, "Maybe… maybe I should fake his death."

"MAYBE!?" Wally dashed towards him, grabbing him by the shoulders and shook him violently, "You're basing this… on a MAYBE!?"

"Wally, calm down! I'll think of something!"

"No! You have to think about it now!" He rebuffed as he let go, "How long are you gonna keep all of this a secret?"

"As long as I can. I have to. WE have to."

"Well, it has to come out eventually. Or else the consequences will be much worse. Think about it." Wally said for the last time before leaving Nightwing alone on the building top.

Dick contemplated the situation. It was a tough decision, fake Conner's death or let him get captured. Who knows what the Light would do to him.

He brought up his wrist communicator and typed a message for Aqualad.

Nightwing: _I have a plan. Meet me tomorrow here in Blüdhaven again. Same time. We'll figure something out._

After a minute, Aqualad replied: _Understood._

The former Robin nodded and turned off his communicator. " _This is really bad."_

…

 _ **Chapter 1 DONE!**_

 _ **Yes, this whole chapter is based on the episode 'Depths'. Sorry about that; there was no other title in my opinion.**_

 _ **I was listening to a track that is really helpful. It's "Just a Dream" by John Ottman. It's very emotional that it fits perfectly into this chapter.**_

 _ **Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed. Please leave a review and let me know what you all thought. I'd really appreciate some feedback on this.**_

 _ **Have a great day/night!**_


	2. Snapped

_**Chapter 2: Snapped**_

 _ **To the reviewers, I understand what you are saying, and I apologize if most of you thought that I was snapping. Well, I wasn't.**_

 _ **If I hurt your feelings, I didn't mean to directly.**_

 _ **But don't worry, it won't happen again. Promise! :)**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice._**

…

 _ **The Next Day**_

…

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **March 21, 09:38 EDT**_

Conner kept himself secluded in his room yesterday after his small fiasco with M'gann trying to reach into his mind. No one dared to disturb him. They thought he might have snapped on them if they bothered him. And he understood why; he could be pretty scary when in a bad mood. He had just finished taking a shower. Now he was sitting on the edge his bed. In his hands, he held a picture frame. It was a photo of the original team. Him, Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Artemis and Miss Martian; all of them standing together, arms around shoulders. A light smile appeared as he remembered the old days. He missed it dearly.

He was obviously not keen on change. But change eventually happened. It was inevitable. Kid Flash and Artemis retired, the latter now dead. Kaldur turned against the Team, blaming them for the death of Aquagirl. Nightwing was now leader; Conner had no problem with that. His relationship with M'gann was gone. And it was HER fault. Her carelessness intruded and ruined what they had thought was… special. Now she was dating 'jerk-face the rebound guy' after he dumped her.

Now, today was his birthday. And he knew that M'gann would try and apologize by throwing him one. He was not going to buy it. Not. One. Bit. Besides, they were having a crisis. Artemis is dead and 'jerk-face' is being held captive, so he hoped for no parties.

A knock on his door came; he put the photo away inside his drawer cabinet.

"It's open." He said as stood up and walked over to his desk, placing both hands on it.

M'gann appeared at his door. She was holding a cupcake with a lit candle on top. Conner had to hide a grimace and suppress a sigh.

"Happy Birthday, Conner," She greeted.

"Hmmm…" That was his only response. His back facing her.

M'gann frowned but immediately gave a weak smile, "I figured that… you didn't want a surprise party, so I just made you this."

Conner chuckled and turned to face her, "You're damn right about that."

The Martian sighed and placed the cupcake on the top of his cabinet drawer, "Conner… you still seriously can't be upset with me."

"Well, I am. Because I shared something with you and you tried to get rid it!"

"I was just trying to make you happy!" M'gann reasoned.

"TRYING TO MAKE ME HAPPY!?" Superboy exclaimed, "BY REMOVING SOMETHING I'M AFRAID OF!?"

"YES!"

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He wanted to fix it, not get rid of it. But it was something he wanted to fix himself. Snorting bitterly, he said, "Get out."

After a moment's silence and hesitation, M'gann replied emotionally, "Fine. I can't stand seeing you do this to yourself."

"Do what?" Conner mocked her.

"Isolate yourself from everyone else! And barely sleep! That's not healthy for you!" She scolded.

"Wow! _That's not healthy for you!_ " He impersonated her in a more feminine tone before he derided her even more, "So, are you, my mommy, now? Telling me what's right for me?!" He pointed a finger at her viciously.

She opened her mouth to speak. No words. Then, "Conner… I… I care about you."

" _Care about me!?"_ Conner repeated as his nostrils flared, "Do you really?"

"Yes!" M'gann shed a small tear. She felt that more were to come, "Because it hurts me to see you like this and speaking to me that way."

"Do not sympathize with me." He chuckled darkly. His anger was in full force.

"I'm not." She retorted.

"Really, then what are you doing? Bringing a cupcake with a candle and saying 'Happy Birthday' and as if nothing previous happened? Well, let me tell you something; You're living in a fantasy world where EVERYTHING is yours to take or throw away. "

"..."

"I think you'd prefer a sob story. Wouldn't you like that? Something that you would think and cry about before going to bed?" He raised his voice as it darkened. M'gann did not speak, she could only watch him rant on. She wanted to leave, but she knew she had to stay otherwise the situation would worsen, "Am I a sob story to you now? Is that who I am?"

She was about to say 'no' but Conner spoke quicker.

"You attempted to tamper with my mind twice and constantly kiss your new boyfriend whenever in front of me as if I'm not there! You must care… SO MUCH FOR ME!" He shouted and slammed his fists on the wall, making it crack. It made her jump as more tears strolled down her face. Her lips mumbled, her eyes fearful, face paled. M'gann didn't say a word as she sniffed hard.

Conner panted heavily and proceeded to calm down, "Get out before it gets worse."

She complied and slowly walked out of his room, closing the door gently. Superboy could hear her light sobs and sniffs fade away. He turned back to sit on his desk chair, contemplating what he just said to her. Conner sighed and covered his face. He whispered, "Shit."

Then he noticed the cupcake was still there on top of the cabinet drawer. A frown came upon his face as he stood up and walked over to it. Picking it up with his hand, he stared at it. It felt like an eternity but eventually… he blew the candle.

 _Happy Birthday, Conner._

…

 _ **Eight Hours Later…**_

…

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **March 21, 17:33 EDT**_

Nightwing, Mal, and Superboy, who was finally out of his bedroom, were in the Cave's mission room.

"Aquaman has all of Atlantis on the case," Mal spoke, "Says they're searching the seven seas for Lagoon Boy and his captors."

In front of them, was a hologram of the Earth.

"It's a big planet," Mal pointed out, "And that's a LOT of water."

Conner was behind him and he placed his right hand on Mal's right shoulder, "We'll find La'gaan."

"And _Aqualad._ I want his fish head on a platter for what he did to Artemis." The African-American squeezed his fist, wanting revenge.

Superboy sighed, "I don't suppose we're any closer to identifying the Light's new partner?"

"Not even close." Nightwing answered sadly, "Even if we did, we still wouldn't have a clue on what we're up against."

"Yeah. I'm gonna… go and take a walk." Conner said before he passed Nightwing, heading towards the Zeta-Tube. But he was stopped by him, "What?"

"I saw M'gann come out of your room, crying." He said, "What did you do?"

Conner's brows drew together and shoved Nightwing away, "I spoke my mind."

Nightwing's eyes squinted as he and a curious Mal watched him storm off into the Zeta-Tube.

" _Recognized; Superboy, B-0-4."_

The first Robin closed his eyes, _He finally did it. He snapped._

…

 _ **Ivy Town**_

 _ **March 21, 19:15 EDT**_

Conner was sitting down on a bench in the park. He had a nice view of the sunset as it slowly made its descent. A few meters ahead of him, was a young couple, about his age. Laughing and holding each other's hands, and kissing. He wished he still had that with… _her._

As he got lost into his thoughts, a stranger, or so he thought, put a party hat on top of him and exclaimed, "Hey there, birthday boy!"

This person was a Caucasian girl with blue eyes and short black hair. Conner recognized her instantly; Wendy Harris. She blew a party horn at him in a cheerful manner.

"Oh, hey there Wendy." He greeted non-enthusiastically.

"So, how old are you today?" She asked as she sat down next to him.

"Six."

She raised a brow in confusion. Was he being serious? She didn't know, but he was.

Conner's eyes widened, realizing his 'mistake', "I… I… I mean… twenty-two. I turned twenty-two at '6' PM, exactly." He felt relieved in his mind, _Good save there, you moron._

Wendy nodded and commented, "Well, at either age… you look… EXACTLY the same as the day we met."

He really wished he could age properly. He looked at her then down at his feet, sadly. Until Wendy playfully pushed his shoulder.

"That's a compliment you big goof!" She laughed before reaching for his 'S' shield t-shirt, "Although, even Mal outgrew the Superman t-shirt when he hit eighteen."

He slightly moved away from her, "Yeah, well I'm not big on change."

"Or surprises, am I right? That's how I remember your birthday; there's no way I could forget. Not with the huge surprise parties, Megan threw for you year after year."

He groaned softly as he heard _her_ name, "I hated those parties."

Wendy crossed her arms and examined his facial expressions, "Mmmm, I don't buy it. You, Conner Kent, pretended to hate them. It made Megan happy to throw them for you so secretly… you loved it."

She wasn't wrong. Definitely not wrong. He did love them. And he wanted it back. But as of now, he knew it wasn't the right time. He smiled, "You know me pretty well."

The brunette returned the smile but soon both of theirs disappeared once they realized they were surprisingly close to each other. They backed away in unison.

"So… any parties this year?" She asked to make it look not awkward.

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes. I didn't want one if I'm being honest with you."

"Why not?"

It took him a few seconds and partially lied, "Just didn't feel like it."

…

 _ **Dakota City**_

 _ **March 21, 18:17 CDT**_

"M'gann, listen," Zatanna tried to reason with her, "Conner was very upset."

"I was upset!" She groaned in frustration, "He should've known better."

The Magician sighed, "You act as if you're his mom. And let's not forget what you _did_ to him."

Her eyes widened and gazed at her in astonishment, "How…?"

"I'm one of the two people you shared that incident with. Artemis was the other, remember?"

"Oh… right."

Zatanna's eyes bored into her, "And if I were you; I wouldn't have done something like that to a guy like Conner."

"So you're saying it's my fault our relationship is long dead?"

"Yeah." She gave her a serious look.

The Martian stopped walking in shock; her eyes still gleaming. Zatanna continued walking, "Come on, Raquel is waiting for us. But wipe those tears away, first. We don't want any drama at her bridal shower."

M'gann nodded, not saying another word as she contemplated what Zatanna told her. She sighed, _She's right. I shouldn't have. It IS my fault._

…

 _ **Blüdhaven**_

 _ **March 22, 04:01 EDT**_

Nightwing leaned on a crate and waited for Aqualad and Artemis (now Tigress).

"Where are you guys?" He whispered.

The timing was right as the two appeared. Aqualad spoke, "I apologize if we are late."

"Only a minute. Not bad." Nightwing grinned then looked at Artemis/Tigress. She wore a burnt orange and black suit, with a hard orange mask that covered her forehead, nose, and cheeks. The mask itself resembled and stylized the face of a tiger, "How are you doing?"

"I'm still alive and my cover's not yet blown so… I'm guessing that's a good sign." She said sarcastically, "So what's the plan?"

Nightwing stopped leaning on the large wooden crate and walked towards them, "Kaldur, has the Light welcomed you properly yet?"

"No." The Atlantean shook his head, "Not yet."

"Then this is going to hurt but… blowing up the cave may be your final step."

Both the undercover members blew their eyes. _Seriously?_ They both thought.

Unsure she heard him correctly, Tigress gaped at him, "You have got to be joking! The Cave!?"

"It will show the Light how Kaldur is 'throwing away his old life'," Nightwing explained.

"Although, it seems inevitable. Blowing up the Cave may push me further into officially joining the Light. Then…"

"We can find out who their partner is." He concluded.

"Okay, besides that, what about Conner's situation?" Artemis noted worriedly, "Are we gonna fake his death?"

"No. We cannot." Aqualad said, "If we do that, the Team will be divided and that is the last thing we need."

"So… capture him?"

"It's the only viable option." Dick looked down in thought, "Kaldur, are you ready to exchange?"

"I am afraid I could not get what you wanted. My father insisted I accompanied him to places elsewhere."

"Understood," he nodded

"How about you?"

"No. Too busy today." Nightwing looked down in thought.

"What is wrong, my friend?" Aqualad placed a hand on his shoulder like he did for him the day before.

"Conner was… let's just say off, today."

Tigress raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by 'off'?"

"He finally snapped at Miss M."

The 'former' Archer said, "That's not good. Because…"

"Because he might willingly join the Light. We cannot afford to lose him this way."

Tigress winced, _M'gann… you should never have done_ that _._

"Has your dad given you another assignment besides what the Light ordered him to tell you?"

"Yes, the Light's partner is in need of prisoners for their experimentations," Aqualad looked away in anger, "But I do not wish to ask for members of the Team."

"We have no choice Kaldur. Tomorrow night, infiltrate the Cave and capture anyone who is there."

"Does that include Superboy?"

Nightwing huffed and shook his head, "It's too risky. If you knocked him out, he'd wake up eventually and attack all of you. _Kill_ you, even."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Find a way to help us rescue Lagoon Boy AND the others who you captured. I'll… go to the Batcave after this and gather some… Kryptonite." He said the last word with sourness in his voice. Tigress and Aqualad couldn't help but feel the same way; she frowned.

"We will exchange in the Cave?"

"Yes. But you have to make it look legit. Then wait for me to escape; I will send you a message once the cost is clear. Then blow the Cave sky high."

Aqualad and Tigress nodded. Afterward, they left saying their goodbyes and Nightwing left to find a Zeta-Tube to the Batcave. _This HAS to work…_

…

 _ **Once again, I sincerely apologize for my remark in the review section. I did not mean to hurt anyone.**_

 _ **I also apologize if this chapter felt either too rushed or the time stamps were confusing for you (EDT is eastern daylight time, and CDT is central daylight time, in case you didn't know that). Also, you might all think Conner's being an ass towards M'gann, as a matter of fact, he's not. He is standing up for himself because he wants her to know what she did to him emotionally since she wouldn't listen or even attempt to understand. Conner is technically an emotional wreck if you think about it.**_

 _ **But overall, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know what you all thought.**_

 _ **Have a great day/night!**_


	3. Darkest

_**Chapter 3: Darkest **_

_**I just remembered that Gorilla Grodd is different due to the tie-in comic of Young Justice. Instead, he is a Kobra venom-enhanced gorilla that was experimented; his strength and intelligence were enhanced. Nothing about telepathic abilities there so… that's kind of a bummer. -_-**_

 _ **But at least we have Psimon, right?**_

 _ **Enjoy nonetheless!**_

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice._**

…

 _ **The Gulf of Mexico**_

 _ **March 23, 16:03 EDT**_

Safely secluded in an undersea crevice, the Manta-Sub lied in waiting.

"How can you stand and look in a mirror?" Lagoon Boy, in a cell, lectured his 'former' leader, who stood in front of him with two Manta troopers behind him, "Atlantis, King Orin, the Team. You betrayed us all!"

Aqualad only looked at him with a blank expression, silently.

"Neptune's Beard! I can't believe I _idolized_ you!" He hissed at him. Suddenly, the connecting door to their right opened. Black Manta walked in.

"Why is this prisoner still on board?" He asked, "He should be delivered at once to our partner. Prepare a pod for transport."

"I will handle it personally father." Kaldur offered.

"Negative. I have more duties for you, my son."

La'gaan snorted and insulted him, "You're not his _son!_ You're his _errand boy!_ "

Kaldur finally spoke to him, "I am aware of my role in the larger picture La'gaan. Are you?"

He moved closer and took out something from his utility belt; a sedative. He injected it into La'gaan's bloodstream, causing the latter to feel rather unpleasant.

"I am… so… getting you back for this… _chum_." Then he passed out. Aqualad gestured to the Manta troopers to take him out of his cell. They dragged his unconscious body into a pod and carted off.

"Kaldur'ahm."

"Yes, father?"

"You should know that my faith in you is absolute," he put his hand on his shoulder, "But others require… further proof of your loyalty."

"You have my word father." He said easily. Except it was not. He would be blowing up the Cave that night. This was his one-way ticket into joining the Light. And to find out _who_ they were collaborating with, "I will do whatever it takes to enter the Light."

"Good. Any progress in capturing the Kryptonian?"

"Soon father… soon." He reassured him. _Not tonight, I cannot do it tonight._

Aqualad, soon after, departed on his Manta-Flyer alongside his new team that consisted of Tigress, Icicle Jr., and the Terror Twins; Tuppence and Tommy.

…

 _ **Unknown Location**_

 _ **March 23, (time unknown)**_

La'gaan groaned as he woke up. He already noticed at first sight that he was in a pod being carted away by two Manta troopers, but his eyesight was too groggy to see where he actually was.

At one point, they stopped carting him around and placed him somewhere. It was too bright for him to see properly, but he could see two dark figures. Were they human? Alien? Maybe both? He had many questions in his mind. All he knew now was that these two figures were communicating, based on their hand gestures. Gladly, he understood some languages, especially morse code back when he was still in Atlantis.

" _I see no use for an Atlantean – born with powers augmented by sorcery."_ The first figure on the left said.

" _But the Atlantean race mutated from humans into many sub-species. The Meta-Gene must be involved."_ The second said, " _Besides… fresh meat… is fresh meat."_

La'gaan attempted to move but was still too weak to do so.

" _Exactly. Fresh meat… and nothing more. He is useless to us!"_

"'Useless'?"

" _Yes, useless. The Light requested for a Kryptonian."_

His eyes widened, _Kryptonian?_

" _A Kryptonian!? For what purpose would a Kryptonian have for the Light?"_

" _They said and I quote… for 'personal reasons'."_

That was when La'gaan realized. They were going after _him_. 'Super ex-boyfriend'. He wished he could escape and inform the Team about this, but he passed out again.

…

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **March 23, 21:05 EDT**_

" _Recognized; Blue Beetle, B-2-2. Impulse, B-2-3."_ The Zeta-Tube announcement came online.

As they came in, Blue Beetle looked exhausted. Impulse was not.

"Ha ha!" The speedster from the future laughed mockingly, "Left them in the dust!"

"Left who in the dust?" Nightwing appeared and walked towards them. He noticed Impulse holding something in his hand to which he pointed at it, "And what is _that?"_

"Souvenir!"

"Souvenir's are Beast Boy's thing, _ese_." Blue Beetle commented.

Impulse looked at him in shock, "Really? I thought it was Kid Flash's…"

"Can we get to it!?" Nightwing interrupted impatiently.

"Sorry," Blue Beetle said before explaining, "Aqualad attacked us with Icicle Jr., the Terror Twins and a ninja girl I didn't recognize."

Bart held out what he was holding. An alien looking tracking device, "This is what they used to track _Blue_. I made sure they couldn't do it again."

Their leader looked at him in disbelief, "So you brought foreign, possibly alien tech into the cave? Are you out of your mind!?"

The speedster looked at the device then back at him, "Heh, oops."

"Rookie mistake!" Nightwing rubbed his forehead with his fingers and held out his other hand, "Alright, give it here."

Bart gave the device to him and Nightwing examined it. He spoke again, "Impulse, is this the only copy they had?"

"I think so."

…

Aqualad and his team were on his ship. He held an exact duplicate of the device.

"You had another one of 'em gizmos!" Tommy Terror said, "Why not just say so?"

"Because it is not the same," Aqualad revealed, "This one confirms the first device acted as a trojan horse. Impulse brought it to the cave… where it remotely hacked and bypassed all security.

Tommy's lips curled, Tuppence smirked, and Icicle Jr. grinned. But Tigress gave nothing. She was upset and so was Kaldur. But they had no choice.

"Mount Justice is ours." He said as he gently landed his Manta-Flyer on the water and submerged.

…

In the hangar bay, Aqualad emerged from the waters; he was holding a navy green duffel bag. He visually looked around the place. It was quiet. He walked towards the tunnel that connected towards the mission room. Doing so, he had an unexpected encounter. Sphere.

She rolled towards him and stopped. She made a few beeps as if to welcome him 'home'. He weakly smiled as she rolled away to rest. His lips uncurled as he checked his surroundings once more. He then continued on his way.

Meanwhile, in the Cave's lounge room, Wolf was sleeping peacefully on the couch. Suddenly, there was a scent. He opened his eyes and brought up his head and looked left to right, sniffing. Nothing to be seen so he went back to sleep. His left ear twitched slightly as he heard a high pitched beep but did not bother waking up. Tigress came out of a heat extractor hood and locked an Inhibitor collar on him before she snuck away to somewhere else.

In Beast Boy's room, he was watching _Hello, Megan!,_ on his phone; he held it up using his tail as he lied down comfortably on his bed. Then he heard several knocks on his door. Thinking it's his sister, M'gann, he gradually goes to open the door. Once he pressed it open, Tuppence Terror is on his front door. Shocked to the point he could not act as soon as possible, Tuppence knocks him out.

Down in the grotto, Superboy was looking at Artemis's Hologram Statue. His eyes widened as he felt an intruder behind him thanks to his super-hearing. Once he turned around, an ice blast was fired directly at him; he bolted away from it. He saw both Icicle Jr. and Tommy Terror. _Shit!_ He was too slow to react as Tommy grabbed him by the arms and slammed him into a nearby wall.

"Tommy, move!" Jr. said. Tommy moved, giving the cryokinetic a clear shot of the Boy of Steel. He blasted at him again and he was encased in ice. That wasn't enough to stop Superboy. He was stronger and he broke free. But as he was about to attack Icicle, Tommy snuck up and placed an Inhibitor Collar on him as well.

Conner then proceeded to punch Tommy, but the latter grabbed his hand with ease. The Kryptonian was in shock, _What?_

"Sorry _son_ ," Tommy mocked as he had the upper hand, "Collar's done shut off your strength."

Superboy then attempted to break free but to no avail. He dropped down to his knees and constantly tried to pull away, groaning and grunted.

"And that's not all it can do." Icicle Jr. grinned. He held out a remote and pressed a button.

It electrocuted Conner. He screamed in pain but was knocked down flat once it stopped. He dropped down to the floor. Tommy stared evilly at him, "Don't know 'bout you, Jr. But I'm harboring some old resentment on this _boy_."

He cracked his knuckles as Jr. agreed as he made a spear out of his hand, "Hell yeah. Let's finish him!"

"Belay that!" They both heard a voice. It was Aqualad, standing next to Aquagirl's Hologram, "Your revenge is unnecessary. I need Superboy here… alive."

"Are you kidding me!?" Icicle pouted, "We've been waiting so long for this!

"I understand what he has done to you, but that is in the past. The Light has plans for him. And as of right now, we must focus on our mission."

Tommy and Jr. looked at each other then back at their leader. They both nodded.

…

In the Mission room, Nightwing, Impulse and Blue Beetle were all examining the device. Until it sounded off.

 _Shit, Trojan horse!_ Nightwing cursed, "Ah! I'm an idiot!" He took out his eskrima sticks to prepare himself to fight, but he did not expect Conner's unconscious body to come flying at him. Blue Beetle and Impulse prepared themselves. They easily spotted Icicle Jr. above them in an elevated section of the cave and he fired ice at them.

Impulse sprung into action as Blue Beetle activated his wings to cover him.

"Alright! This one's a classic; ice over the floor, a speedster can't get traction, right?" He said in his elated tone. He sped up the wall and elbowed Icicle to the side, hitting the wall, "Wrong!"

Then he spotted Tuppence Terror holding Beast Boy on her shoulder. Bart smiled and rhymed, "That worked so nice, I'll try it twice!"

He sped down to punch Tuppence and free Gar. But he wasn't as strong as her. She kicked him with ease and he flew backward and was caught by Tommy.

Bart punched him rapidly but did no damage. His hands started to hurt, "My hands! What the hell are you made of?"

"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails." Tommy grinned before putting a collar on him as well.

"Ha!" Impulse laughed, "Nice try, but I'll just vibrate right out of this… uh oh. No speed… uh… my powers are blocked, aren't they?" Tommy didn't respond. Instead, he punched and knocked him out before throwing him to the center of the mission room. As he stood there in triumph, Blue Beetle attacked him with a sonic blast.

Nightwing pushed Conner away from him gently. Standing up to fight, Tigress, from out of nowhere, dived in and kicked the side of his face. She landed perfectly and scooped him off his feet, bringing him to the ground. As lay on top of him to pin him down and put on a collar.

"Sorry. No super powers for your collar to turn off." He grinned, locked his legs onto her head and brought her down. He stood up again, but Tigress was fast to recover and activated the electric shock. He went down on all fours from the sheer pain. Blue Beetle noticed this and was about to hit her with his sonic cannon, then…

"Stand down!" Aqualad exclaimed as he came into the mission room. All action stopped

" _Switch to Plasma Cannon, wide dispersal. Incinerate them all!"_ His scarab told him.

Blue Beetle squinted in disapproval, "With the good guys included? No thanks!"

"This battle is over!" Aqualad said.

"I don't think so, TRAITOR!" Jaime retorted as he prepared his plasma cannons.

"Then think again, Beetle." Kaldur kneeled down and placed the duffel bag in a standing position and opened it. Inside the bag was a strange alien-like device, "This is the same type of bomb that obliterated Malina Island. I am holding down the deadman switch. If my thumb comes off this button… for _ANY_ reason… Mount Justice… _falls._ "

Now Blue Beetle was hesitant. Should he comply?

" _The traitor bluffs!"_ Scarab said, " _And if not, I calculate that we can survive the blast."_

"But my friends can't." Jaime reasoned as he descended. He deactivated his wings and plasma cannons and held up his hands in surrender, "We're standing down."

Aqualad faked a grin, "Wise choice."

Icicle dropped down. He seemed to have recovered quickly, "I'm fine by the way."

"Good. Escort Beetle, Impulse and Beast Boy to the flyer.

Tigress stood above Nightwing and Superboy, "What about these two?"

"As hostages, they have value. But Nightwing is an ordinary human. Superboy… may be Kryptonian but is half-human. The Light has a plan for him, but not our partner. He will be needed for the future, but in the meantime, he's staying with his Team."

"Aqualad! You'll regret this!" Nightwing tried to stand up. Kaldur knew what he was doing. They were going to exchange. Right then and there. It was risky, but it was a risk they HAD to take.

Kaldur slowly walked toward him, towering over his crouched form. He kneeled down in front of him and held his back; an uppercut to the chest was a perfect cover. They quickly switched; Aqualad handed him a microchip while Nightwing gave him a capsule that contained the Kryptonite as promised.

To make it seem realistic and believable, Aqualad said, "I believe I have outgrown the name _Aqualad_. As well as anything that resembles regret."

He walked towards the tunnel leading to the hangar as Nightwing clutched his stomach, grunting.

Kaldur slightly turned his head, "I will leave the bomb to you… as a _souvenir_. Oh, and the deadman switch has a five-mile range. So I'd advise you to not pursue."

…

Once Aqualad's team left, a message from him was sent to Nightwing.

 _We are clear, you and the others have to go now!_

There was no need for a reply, Nightwing went straight to it. He limped to Conner.

"Hey, Superboy! Wake up!" He shook him. It did the trick.

Conner's eyes sprung open almost instantly, "What's going on?"

"The Cave's gonna blow, we gotta get out of here!" Nightwing tried pulling out his collar.

"Wait, Wolf and Sphere!" Superboy said as he ran towards the lounge area while Nightwing nodded before

…

In the Manta-Flyer, the three captives were tied up together, all awake and groaning. Too weak to even attempt to escape. Aqualad's team were buckled up preparing to ascend to the surface.

"Since when did the Light ever have plans for Superboy?" Tommy spoke to Icicle Jr. who groaned in agreement

"Wish we could've ended him back there!" The cryokinetic clenched his fists.

"The Light created him. And they want him back!" Kaldur 'defended' the Light's plans, "Is that enough for you to shut your mouths?"

"Maybe so… but I'm thinkin' you still gotta soft spot for your old' teammates." Tuppence challenged her 'leader'.

Aqualad's eyes darted at her, then at her brother and Jr. His brows drew together.

"Tigress." He called her, she stood behind him. He gave her the deadman switch, "Do it."

She stared at the switch then back at him. Taking off her mask slowly, she asked, "You sure about this?"

He did not nod, he only looked forward. In a serious tone, he replied, " _Do it."_

It was at that point, once she pressed the button, that their old lives and memories were forever gone. Mount Justice was gone.

…

 _ **Washington D.C**_

 _ **March 24, 03:12 EDT**_

Wally the Hall of Justice's lounge. There, he noticed Nightwing sitting on the debriefing table, drinking coffee from a white mug, "What… happened?"

Dick drank from the mug and placed it down to speak, his head down low, "It was… _necessary_."

"It better have been," the retired member said bitterly, "Spill."

"Aqualad needed to find a way to help us rescue Lagoon Boy. He'd already injected a microscopic tag in La'gaan's bloodstream… and used the raid on the Cave to pass the intel."

He pulled out a small purple square shaped object, "A flash drive with… among other things tracking software to locate the tag."

Wally crossed his arms and scoffed, "Like that's all he did."

"Wally, he had to make it look good. He put inhibitor collars on us but he knew I could get us out of them." He said as he stood up.

"He took _three_ more hostages! Members of _your_ Team!"

"And we'll rescue them when we rescue Lagoon Boy!"

Wally grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer, "Dick! He blew up the Cave! You guys almost died!"

Dick grabbed his arms and brought them down, "No. It's all on the flash-drive. He knew I'd have to pursue to make it look legit and that's exactly what happened!"

Wally was not convinced.

"He gave us time to get out. We just…" Dick hesitated, "We got caught in the debris during the explosion."

"Do you even hear yourself?" He hissed as he raised his voice, "What if even _ONE_ of you got left behind, huh? Why take that risk? Why go to such extremes!?"

"The drive… describes that too." He said as he leaned on the table. Wally put his hands on his hips, "He… he needed to cement his position with the Light and their partner."

"And wasn't that why he 'murdered' Artemis?"

Dick sighed, "I guess it didn't convince everyone."

"YOU GUESS!?"

"THE CAVE IS… _WAS_ JUST A _PLACE_! Worth sacrificing if it helps us stop the invasion!" Dick snapped back at him, "Look… I'm sorry you _lost_ all your souvenirs!"

Wally didn't know how he did, but Dick always knew how to play with people's buttons. And he was an expert in that. Wally angrily pushed him down to the chair, "ARE YOU SERIOUS!? I don't care about the _junk!_ I'm worried about Artemis! Terrified for her! _You put her right into his hands!"_

From the chair, Dick stared in disbelief, "Wally, we're talking about Kaldur here!"

"I know." He simply said, "Kaldur; our friend. Who, in the space of just a few months _lost the love of his life_ , and found out _Black Manta was his father_! Isn't it possible… Aqualad might actually be… a traitor? A _triple agent_?"

Dick contemplated his words. Was he right? Or was he wrong?

"He's supposed to be playing them… but are you 100% sure… he isn't _playing you?"_

Dick squinted.

"The hostages… did he take Conner?" Wally asked worriedly.

"No. Because if he did, his Team might have killed him."

The speedster sighed in relief but was still worried, "You exchanged something with Kaldur, didn't you?"

It took a while for Nightwing to respond, but when he did…

"Nothing. Just the flash-drive."

"Liar." Wally sneered at him before grabbing him by the collar again, "Tell me the truth! What did you exchange!?"

"I… in exchange for the flash-drive… I gave Kaldur a capsule of Kryptonite." He stuttered. In front of Wally of all people.

The latter shook in rage and felt the urge to savagely beat Dick to death for ruining the Team, even his life. But this was his best friend, they fought alongside for five years. An action like this could severe all ties. He hesitated and breathed in and out.

"I hope you know what you're doing," He let go and shoved him away, leaving for the exit, "If Conner doesn't make it out alive… or is killed… I'll _fucking_ kill you."

Dick furrowed his brows and picked up the flash drive back on the table, "And I agree with you."

…

 _ **Atlantic Ocean**_

 _ **March 24, 03:17 EDT**_

Aqualad 'flew' the Manta-Flyer under Black Manta's command submarine. The submarine's bottom doors opened, allowing the Flyer to emerge. Once hooked into the submarine, Kaldur and his team exited. Black Manta was there, he was awaiting his son's return.

Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, and Impulse were all unconscious. They were locked in the same pods like La'gaan was in, as they were carted away by three Manta troopers.

Kaldur went to his father, his teammates went to do their personal business.

"Come with me." Black Manta ordered as he started to walk. Kaldur followed.

"May I ask where we are going, father?"

"You will find out soon enough." That was his only reply before he stepped into a large room. It was partially dark. Then white light appeared. There was a video screen and six individuals were present. From left to right; Vandal Savage, Queen Bee, Lex Luthor, Klarion the Witch Boy, Brain and Ra's al Ghul. The Light.

"Please allow me to officially introduce Kaldur'ahm, my son." Black Manta brought him forward, "He has succeeded in every mission I had given him. Not only did he capture Blue Beetle as instructed, he acquired three of his former team members as well. As with the destruction of Mount Justice by his own agenda… well…"

"Indeed," Ra's al Ghul spoke, "We appreciate the initiative, vision… and strong _family ties_."

"Most correct," Luthor added, "However… he knows of his… other mission, yes?"

"I most certainly do," Kaldur'ahm spoke with confidence, "I will capture Superboy and bring him to the Light. You have my word."

"And do you have the right materials for such a task, young man?" Queen Bee questioned in her cruel yet seductive tone.

"I do."

Ra's grinned, "Welcome to the Light, Kaldur'ahm. It is time for you to meet our partner… the Reach."

…

 _ **There you have it for now!**_

 _ **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please review and let me know what you all thought. Next chapter will get a bit dramatic…**_

 _ **Have a great day/night!**_


	4. Taken Before the Dawn

_**Chapter 4: Taken Before the Dawn**_

 _ **I have a feeling I might get copyrighted for using the same titles of the episodes for this story. Well… it's a retelling of the episodes but slightly altered.**_

 _ **I would like to thank the guest for correcting me on Gorilla Grodd. Seriously, I do. :)**_

 _ **If most of you also felt the first three chapters had nothing to do with the actual story… fear not! Because after this, hopefully, this story will finally focus more on Conner and M'gann's perspective (not P.O.V unless highly requested by you guys).**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**_

…

 _ **Pacific Ocean**_

 _ **March 30, 18:28 HAST**_

Blue Beetle awoke with a jolt. He panted heavily, and he looked from left to right. He was in a pod, he remembered, but he was in a strange place, "Where am I? What is this place?"

" _Recall, Jaime Reyes! We were captured by Aqualad and taken prisoner along three of your friends!"_ Scarab reminded him.

"Right. Better… armor up."

" _Negative, this containment pod has neutralized all combat systems!"_

"Dammit!" He was nervous now as looked again. This place was not human in any case. There were dozens of pods just like his all in a line. Was this an alien prison? Ship? A human/metahuman butchering chamber? He jerked and gasped again once an alien popped up in front of his pod.

A humanoid female alien with blue skin, to be exact. The sclera of her eyes was yellow, while her irises were an even darker yellow. She was tall and slender but appeared to have somewhat broad shoulders. She wore a crimson sleeveless tunic. Starting from the back of her head and around her temples, a white _ḥijāb_ -style cloth that coalesced with the tunic around the sternum. A translucent yellow _niqāb_ -like piece that covered her mouth. The tunic was fastened with a belt that has a satchel hanging down over her upper right thigh. Also, she donned white gloves with furled cuffs.

Jaime, in his mind, asked, " _What… in the hell… are you?"_

The humanoid was then called by her chief principal; a male humanoid who wore almost the same as the female except for the _ḥijāb._ His skin was instead green.

They communicated, but Jaime was oblivious as to what they were saying.

" _Providing translation."_ Scarab offered. Jaime nodded and listened in.

"The Scarab's memory files are _corrupted._ " The female said, "Only recoverable data is from the last eight months. That is since it fused with _this_ host body. In fact, I was just reviewing the point of…"

The male raised his arm, "Spare me with your _details._ If the Scarab is off mode, perform a reboot."

"I'd rather assess the cause of the crash, _Ambassador._ To make certain it _cannot_ happen again."

"No, _Scientist._ You must understand that the Ambassador cares not for such… 'meat.'" This voice was dark, sadistic. A large figure appeared from the shadows. It wore the same armor as Blue Beetle, albeit black.

It walked up to Jaime's pod, frightening him.

"He is right. Despite wanting the Scarab functioning correctly, I am more _focused_ on granting the Light's wishes." Ambassador explained.

"By handing them the _half-_ Kryptonian?"

"Yes."

"How is that of utmost importance!?"

"As I have said before; 'personal reasons,'" the Ambassador said before his aggravation, "May I remind you of your position here, _Scientist?"_

She sneered at him, "I am well aware."

"Then I suggest you keep your mouth… shut."

Jaime gasped, but they could not hear him, thankfully. "I need to get out of here! Warn the Team!"

" _You cannot, Jaime Reyes! You must wait for a rescue to occur… if that is possible."_

The Scarab had a point; he had to wait. But the question was… _how long?_

…

 _ **Two Hour Later…**_

…

"Your ship is most impressive, Ambassador." Aqualad walked through the walls of the alien ship, "As are your people."

The Ambassador had a smile on his face, "We call ourselves… the Reach. And _these_ are our labs." They took a left down the hallway, "Mostly dedicated to researching the human meta-gene."

"Meta-gene?"

"A genetic marker indicating the potential of an individual human to survive catastrophic physical trauma by adapting… _new abilities_." The humanoid explained.

"In other words, ambassador the meta-gene allows certain humans to develop superhuman powers."

A metal door slid upwards, and they walked into a large room. Stasis pods filled the edges.

"Kaldur'ahm, I'd like you to meet the scientist in charge of all meta-gene research." The Ambassador introduced, hiding a grimace. The female alien turned to face them and noticed Aqualad.

"I understand you are the individual that is responsible for providing us the test subjects?" The Scientist inquired.

"That I am, madam." Kaldur nodded respectfully.

She smiled, "Respectful. I give you my gratitude."

Kaldur started to walk around, looking at the stasis pods and walked up to Lagoon Boys. He was unconscious.

"I am assuming that it would interest you to know that in this lab we are attempting to isolate the human meta-gene by… _stimulating_ potentially dormant powers in… _average_ humans."

"But Lagoon Boy already has powers." He covered a frown, "He is Atlantean. _Hardly_ an average human. And of course… does not look like one."

"Precisely," the Ambassador grinned, "Which is why I'm telling my dear scientist here that an Atlantean is of no use."

The Scientist had to suppress a groan, "Ambassador, please understand this. Lagoon Boy, as Kaldur'ahm here puts it, has powers that are based on training in sorcery."

"And please understand that I do not care! Reboot the Scarab on Blue Beetle for the time being!" He shouted back, surprising Aqualad, "Come, Kaldur'ahm. Let us leave her to her… own business."

Kaldur nodded and followed him out the room.

"It has been a pleasure meeting you, Kaldur'ahm."

Once out the room, they continued on tour around the ship.

"The Light has been… _disturbing us_."

"Define ' _disturbing'?"_

"They bombard me questions about your Kryptonian ally. _Former_ Kryptonian ally, I meant."

"Do not worry; he will soon be in the Light's hands," Aqualad reassured him, _And that day is today._

…

 _ **Star City**_

 _ **March 30, 21:57 PDT**_

The Team had been debriefed. They knew their roles and what to do. The mission was to infiltrate the Light's partner's ship that had been discovered a few days ago and rescue their captured teammates while learning who this new 'threat' is. All thanks to the hard drive Kaldur secretly gave to Nightwing.

In Star City's dock area, Batgirl, Robin, and Bumblebee infiltrated Black Manta activity; teenagers were being captured by Manta Troopers and Tigress for the partner's agendas. The two Bat Family members disguised themselves in casual clothing, while Bumblebee stayed in her shrunken form.

The captured teenagers were in a cage, either crying in fear or yelling to be released. Tigress watched them and finally said to the Manta Troopers, "Get those pods ready. We're on a tight schedule. Kaldur'ahm does not tolerate delay."

They complied by nodding and retrieved containment pods from their larger Manta-Flyer.

"One per pod. Let's move!" Tigress shouted.

Batgirl and Robin were in.

…

As the Manta-Flyer submerged and traveled to unknown parts of the sea, the Bio-Ship followed stealthily.

Miss Martian piloted. She was unenthusiastic, still. Nightwing and Wonder Girl sat in chairs opposite across. The former Robin held out his wrist. A small hologram showed a map with a yellow arrow, them, following a red arrow, the Manta-Flyer. "Good, they're leading us to Lagoon Boy and the others," he said.

"How can you be so sure?" Wonder Girl questioned.

"Wishful thinking?" Nightwing replied, turning off his hologram.

"And the abductee shipment at the docks. How'd you know about that?"

" _Aquaman_ came across the Intel while searching for La'gaan." He lied, but he knew they would both buy it. Although, M'gann cared less as she kept a blank expression on.

Cassie noticed, "What's wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing! Just… thinking about… rescuing La'gaan. That's all."

Nightwing looked at her, an eyebrow lifted. He knew she was lying, but he did not say anything. Conner was on her mind… obviously.

…

"So this is the Light's partner?" Nightwing said as they made a stop. The three witnessed the Manta-Flyer dock inside an alien ship, "That ship shares the same alien design sensibility as the bombs that destroyed Malina Island _and_ Mount Justice."

Wonder Girl focused her eyes on the ship, "It kinda reminds me of _Blue's_ armor."

Nightwing raised a brow before looking again at the ship. He head shifted upwards slightly, as he gritted his teeth, "Miss M, you're up."

The Martian didn't nod, nor did she respond vocally. She stood up and walked two small steps ahead. She closed her eyes, as she put on her hood and created gills on her neck before density shifting out of the Bio-Ship and into the cold water. Her body shrunk to a smaller size from the water pressure. She swam towards the alien ship. " _Alpha squad, I'm heading into the ship. Are you aboard?"_

…

" _Affirmative,"_ Batgirl responded as she and the others were continuously carted away into a large area full of Manta troopers and aliens of different kinds of shapes, "We're in some sort of… docking bay. And we have a visual on the new aliens; AKA the Kroloteans' competitor; AKA… the Light's partner."

" _And we've got other company!"_ She clenched her teeth tight as she saw a familiar face. Tim crossed his brows, " _It's Aqualad. If he makes us… we're over."_

" _Relax, stay whelmed. He won't be looking for you."_ Nightwing reassured, " _Just don't attract any attention."_

" _Got it."_

…

M'gann shifted into another room. Large, and red, like the blood, was painted across. The room filled with pods; they were empty. She floated towards two pods that had two unconscious members, gladly, " _Nightwing, I found Gar and Bart! No sign of La'gaan."_

" _We've got eyes on Lagoon Boy. Plus four civilians and all the teens we came with."_ Batgirl replied. She, Batgirl, and Bumblebee were in a separate room. It looked identical to M'gann's location, but smaller and the pods were half full. Two aliens walked out of the room, " _Okay… we're unsupervised now, but Blue's still unaccounted for. AND an escape could trigger an alarm. Should we wait?"_

" _Negative Alpha, make your move before YOU need rescuing as well."_ Nightwing ordered, " _Miss M, you too."_

Miss Martian's eyes turned green as she brought her arms forward and used her telekinesis on Gar and Bart's pods, ripping its fronts, freeing the pair.

Beast Boy grunted and held his head.

" _Garfield?"_

" _I knew you'd come, sis."_ He said as he stood up but was then taken aback by M'gann's _size._ She was _shorter_ than him, " _Are you shorter?"_

" _What?"_ She asked before realizing what he meant and brought herself back to normal size, " _Oh! No! Pressure from the water outside the ship compacted the…"_

"Thanks for the rescue!" Impulse interrupted her, "But we got to find Blue and Lagoon Boy." He sped off and phased through the door.

M'gann and Gar followed, " _Gar, which way?"_

Beast Boy sniffed, " _This way!"_

…

The alarm was set. The entire ship was busy. In a hallway, leading to a larger control room, a Manta Trooper walked close to Tigress, who was present.

She noticed the Trooper and stopped him from going any further with her arm, "Hold your position, _Trooper!_ "

The Trooper did not follow as he grabbed Tigress by the arm with both hands, swinging her away. Her back impacted the fall; she was knocked out flat. Before she was out, she realized who the 'trooper' really was; It _'s you! Kaldur should be here this instant!_

Two other Troopers came at him. One of them attempted to grope and contain him, but the Trooper knew his tactic, so he ducked and swayed to the left; elbowing the Manta Trooper in the helmet; sending him flying. The second was slow as a sloth; he did not react fast enough as he was grabbed by the helmet and thrown towards another Trooper who came to assist. Both were out.

This Manta Trooper took off his helmet. Superboy, " _Docking Bay is secured!"_

" _Nice timing,_ handsome." Bumblebee replied as a door opening slid upwards. Bumblebee flew towards him as La'gaan, and the now-freed teenagers followed.

" _We're docking now!"_ Nightwing complied as the Bio-Ship docked. A gate opened, and Wonder Girl ran forward.

"Alright people, let's move!" She exclaimed.

…

Tigress groaned as she struggled to get up, _Gotta… let Kaldur know!_ She touched her earpiece instead, "Kaldur! The Team is here! Superboy as well."

" _I understand! Where are you?"_ He was quick to respond.

"In the Docking Bay, I'm coming towards you now."

" _YOU!"_ Tigress could hear M'gann screeching through Kaldur's earpiece, " _MURDERER!"_

After a few short moments, Kaldur began to yell in agony. Tigress's eyes widened, _No._

She forced herself up to her feet and sprinted as fast as she could.

…

All the captured teenagers were in the Bio-Ship, waiting to be transported out as soon as possible. Batgirl and Tim came running to the Docking Bay; Superboy was waiting for them as he nodded at the pair.

" _M'gann, where are you guys?"_ Conner noticed something was wrong, " _M'gann?"_

"Superboy, what's wrong?" Batgirl asked, concerned.

He groaned, "Shit! The Link's down; I'm going in!"

"Do you need any help?"

"No! I can handle it!" He replied as he ran.

Once he was gone, they heard a loud punch, and he was thrown back into the room, out for the count. A gigantic black figure then came into the Docking Bay, laughing sinisterly. The Team backed away in fear.

"Now that the Kryptonians out… I have some… 'meat' to take care of without disturbance." The figure had a dark, alien-like voice. He touched the door commands and locked all exits of the docking bay.

"Listen here… uh… _Black Beetle_!" Wonder Girl challenged, "You're totally outnumbered! Now open up the doors, and we'll go easy on you!"

 _Black Beetle_ chuckled darkly, "You… will go easy… on _me?_ " He said before laughing maniacally.

"Oh… that's so not good." Bumblebee commented. La'gaan, who was next to, slowly nodded in agreement. He felt that he should have warned the Team about the Light's plans for Conner. However, he didn't like Conner, nor did Conner like him. But he didn't let it slide past his mind.

"We have to protect Superboy, right now," La'gaan said.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

"The Light has _plans_ for him. But that's the last thing we need!"

Black Beetle grinned, "Unfortunately for you… once I am finished here… the Kryptonian still comes with me." And he dashed towards them.

…

Meanwhile, Impulse phased through multiple rooms, trying hard to look for the right one where Blue Beetle was stored in. As he slowed down time for him, he found him. A female humanoid was about to experiment on him. With a quick move, Bart bashed into her powerfully before breaking Blue out of his pod.

"You alright there, bud?" He said as he pulled him out gently.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm glad that you found me, _ese_." Jaime thanked gradually. Suddenly he gasped.

"What!?" Impulse turned around quickly.

"No! Not that! Something else!"

"What is it?"

"They… they want… they want him!"

"Who?" Impulse raised an eyebrow, confused by Blue's statement.

"Superboy!"

Bart had a shocked look on his face, _That's bad._

"We gotta warn the others! NOW!"

…

Aqualad held his head tight. He could not withstand the pain M'gann endured on him. She was going to fry his brain. She went through his memories; the foundation of the Team, meeting her, being a brotherly figure towards her, going to the beach, training with Superboy, his love for Tula and him getting rejected by her, the un-shocked reaction of seeing her true form, the day he turned on the team. Then only two memories did not skip passed her; Aqualad and Nightwing are standing in front of Tula's hologram statue and shaking hands and the 'murder' of Artemis. Seeing it all unfurl, she stopped.

"No." That was her only response before kneeling on the ground.

"M'gann? M'gann!?" Gar tapped her shoulders; she gave no reply as she looked on.

Kaldur was not responding either. His brain was officially fried. Tigress then came into the Martian's view.

"Kaldur!" She ran to his side before looking at Miss Martian, " _M'gann… what did you do!?"_

" _I thought he killed you. And that he… deserved it."_ She replied. But, Gar expectedly attacked; he turned into a tiger and charged at Tigress. He attempt fell short as the orange, and black assassin threw a smoke bomb down.

"I'll take mine! You take yours!" Tigress played her part as she and Kaldur went out of you, "Count yourself LUCKY, _boy_!"

Gar roared in his tiger form before reverting to normal.

"M'gann! Snap out of it! You did the right thing!" He encouraged his _blood sister_ , "You took out Aqualad! But the others are still here! And we gotta help them!"

…

"No. No. No. NO! Dammit!" Tigress punched the wall in a small room. Kaldur was literally brain dead and she couldn't believe it. But she still had to go with the plan, they had to capture Conner. Faking his death may not be a last resort anymore.

 _Shit, the Kryptonite!_ She remembered, quickly searching through his Manta armor for the green element; it was in the shape of a shard. But it wasn't with him. _What the f… Where the hell did you put it!?_

Tigress took off her mask and rubbed her face ungentle like. She rummaged through her mind, thinking of the time whether Kaldur were to say he'd give the Kryptonite to anybody else. She gasped in remembrance. Aqualad gave the Kryptonite, just in case, to the Reach alien in the black armor.

 _Son of a…_

…

"You're not gonna take him from us!" Wonder Girl jumped on top of Black Beetle and repeatedly tried to bash the back of his head.

A chuckle, then, "Such folly. Thinking you can stop me?" He jumped up high into the ceiling and impacted her back. He dropped down as Wonder Girl fell to the floor. Batgirl ran and threw two Batarangs at him; only to be swatted away. Black kicked Cassie, sending her body flying towards Batgirl, hitting her.

La'gaan gave a battle cry and charged at the giant alien, only to be stopped with a hand to the face and flown into a wall. Bumblebee shot him with her shock blasts; no damage was done, unfortunately, and she was hit by Black Beetle's sonic cannons. She was out for good.

Robin threw Batarangs at him before being electrocuted by a Black's automated electrodes.

Black Beetle felt triumphant, "This is too easy. I expected a challenge from you 'meat'."

"Then expect this, asshole!" Superboy, now fully conscious, gave a strong, direct punch to Black Beetle's face. Superboy took a strong stance as Lagoon Boy stood next to him, "Hey! Wanna put this stupid rivalry to the side for good?"

The Atlantean went into his Puffer Mode, "Definitely."

Black Beetle arose from the rubble he sat on and cracked his neck, "Now… we are talking."

"You ready, La'gaan?"

"Well… the fact that it's just you and me against a giant, muscular alien like that… not so much."

Conner rolled his eyes as they both simultaneously attacked Black Beetle, who clenched fists hard as a rock.

…

Beast Boy, in a gorilla form, sniffed again as Miss Martian followed him via levitation, still shocked by her discovery. Gar found the door leading to the Docking Bay and tried to nudge his way in. Nothing.

He turned to look at M'gann, " _Can you at least bring the link back up!? Oh, wait it's on. Thanks. NOW COME ON! We're sealed out of the docking bay! What's going on in there!?"_

" _Don't know!"_ Nightwing replied, " _I'm cut-off aboard the Bio-Ship!"_

" _We have like… a serious problem!"_ Wonder Girl was back, " _La'gaan and Superboy are fighting 'Black Beetle'! We have to stop him before he kills us all and takes Superboy!"_ Batgirl was on as well.

" _Say that again?"_ Beast Boy replied.

" _If we don't stop him now, he's gonna take Conner to the Light!"_

M'gann's eyes widened in fear. _Take Superboy to the Light?_ Her days could not get any worse.

" _Wonder Girl, watch out!"_ Lagoon Boy shouted, and a loud thud was heard, " _Neptune's Beard! She's out! It's just Superboy and me now!"_

" _M'gann, hurry! You've got to get in there!"_ Gar shouted at her, " _Density shift in there!"_

She panicked and nodded nervously, " _Yeah, yeah. I got it!"_

M'gann quickly phased through and the first sight she was horrified. La'gaan was held at neck point by Black Beetle, making her stop mid-way. The alien noticed her and touched the door, concealing her. She tried to break free by pushing against the wall, but that failed. _Can't move!_

"What did you do to her!?" La'gaan demanded furiously.

"Changed the density of the door." Black Beetle grinned before swinging him to the opposite wall.

"La'gaan!" M'gann shouted as she once again tried to get out of the wall. Still nothing. Then she saw Conner get up slowly. He ran towards Black Beetle and angrily landed multiple punches at him; jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts. Black Beetle only moved backward a few inches. 'Pain' was not the word to describe Conner's attacks, more like… 'tickles.'

As Superboy flew a punch, Black Beetle stopped his fist with his hand. He suddenly felt weaker… and weaker… and weaker. _What the…?_

He did not interpret why he was feeling frail. And he felt more vulnerable as Black Beetle ripped out the Manta Trooper armor off.

"You are… familiar with _this_ mineral," the alien, pulled out something from his utility belt with his other hand, "Yes?"

Kryptonite. In the shape of a shard.

Miss Martian continued to panic, trying to fight back the tears, though, " _No! No! No! No! No! No!"_

Superboy gasped as he now started trying to pull away. It was no use as Black Beetle pushed forward; Conner could no longer stand his ground. He needed help, but everyone was knocked out.

"You are all alone, _Kryptonian_. Why must you fight when you know you will lose?" Black Beetle mocked.

He grunted as a response, too incapacitated to even make one sentence.

"Understand this," the alien brought his feet off the ground, holding him up in the air, his other, "I will not kill but… this may seem like… _fun_."

"NO! PLEASE STOP!" M'gann pleaded as she started to sob, "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Black Beetle turned to look at her then back at Superboy, "Young love? Hmm… _Disgusting_." He said before stabbing Conner with the pointed tip on his side.

He let out a haunting scream that would be forever in M'gann's memories. She could only look on; her sobbing stopped as the feeling of a sharp dagger pierced through her heart; she began to breathe rapidly. It was raspy.

" _M'gann?"_ Gar asked worriedly but got no response from her.

Beetle ripped out the Kryptonite before slamming Superboy down hard on the ground. Blood dripped out of Conner's side as he held the wound tight. The alien wasn't done yet. He wanted to take pleasure from this more. As Conner still tried to move away, Beetle grabbed him by the hair.

"We… are not… done here." He said before repeatedly punching his face. Again and again and again and again, to the point, his nose and mouth bled uncontrollably. He was _gone_.

Miss Martian's eyes slowly faded before she passed out. She could not see watch anymore. Then, the door she was stuck in opened and, she landed, unconsciously. Blue Beetle and Impulse arrived with Beast Boy, still in his gorilla form, walking next to them. He went to assist M'gann while Blue opened the gate leading to the Bio-Ship. Nightwing appeared and got La'gaan and Barbara's bodies inside the ship.

"Impulse, get the others into the Bio-Ship. Now!" Blue ordered as he prepared his plasma cannons.

"Roger that, _boss._ " Impulse speeded throughout the entire Docking Bay.

"Beast Boy, go with him!"

"But… Conner?" Gar asked as he picked up M'gann's body.

"I'll take care of that, _ese_! GO!"

Beast Boy nodded as he ran towards the Bio-Ship. Black Beetle stood there, still holding Conner.

"Let him go."

"I cannot do that, _brother._ The Light requests for the Kryptonian to be handed as soon as possible." Timing was right for Black Beetle as another door opened, Tigress came into view, "Perfect."

He threw Superboy towards her direction, not hitting her. Tigress quickly examined him; a lot of blood.

She winced, _I'm so sorry, Conner._

"You may take the Kryptonian to the Light, now." Black Beetle said as Tigress dragged Superboy out of the room. Once they were gone, he turned his attention back to Blue, "Now where were we?"

…

 _ **Star City**_

 _ **March 31, 04:51 PDT**_

Another failed mission. They didn't expect this to happen again. Inside the Bio-Ship, the Team were only starting to wake up. All groggy and in pain. M'gann was still passed out.

"Angelfish! Wake up!" Lagoon Boy shook her shoulders violently, hoping it would wake her up. It thankfully did.

She awoke with a gasped, jolting to sit upwards. She panted and looked around, but no Superboy, "Where's… where's Conner?"

La'gaan did not answer, nor did Gar, Jaime, Bart, even the rest of the Team did not answer.

Nightwing sighed and crouched down to face her, "I'm sorry, M'gann. But… they took him."

 _No._ She teared up and sobbed, covering her face. La'gaan wanted to comfort her. She was his girlfriend, but he relented. He knew she still had a soft spot for 'Super-ex-boyfriend' and had hoped she had forgotten about their past relationship. Except, she did not. She never will. Instead, Gar comforted her.

Nightwing stood up and looked at everyone else. Their heads were down in sadness, afraid of what will happen to their strongest member, now that he is in the Light's hands.

He thought to himself; _This_ _better had been worth it._

…

 _ **Now he's finally captured! And M'gann is in distraught… what's going to happen?**_

 _ **I do feel in a way that this chapter seems to be all over the place. But… it is… what it is.**_

 _ **Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know what you all thought, also please mention (if you want to) on what the next chapter should be.**_

 _ **Have a great day/night!**_


	5. Forget

_**Chapter 5: Forget**_

 _ **This is where things go for the worse unless you think it that way.**_

 _ **Also, I changed up the story. M'gann won't be captured to train Conner. She'll just be captured like in Season 2 to fix Kaldur, but with a twist… you'll see why in the future.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**_

…

 _ **Blüdhaven (Team's New HQ)**_

 _ **March 31, 21:05 EDT**_

She needed Conner. But he was nowhere to be found at the moment. The Team was too busy arguing on their next move. Whether they should start fighting against the Light's partner, the _Reach_. Or they plan a search and rescue mission for Superboy. It was a mixed decision. Nightwing and Miss Martian only watched. Wolf slept in a dark but peaceful corner with Sphere, who was in rest mode. There were in an abandoned warehouse that secretly belonged to the Justice League as a safehouse/headquarters.

"Finding _one_ person shouldn't be difficult! But we have to focus on the task at hand," Batgirl insisted, "And that is finding out how to take down the Reach!"

"If we're looking for an _ordinary_ person, then yes, it shouldn't be difficult," Robin replied, "But we're not looking for an _ordinary_ person, now are we? We're looking for _Superboy!_ You call that _ordinary_!?"

The others argued with the matter on hand as well. As M'gann watched everything unfold, she just turned around and walked away towards the exit. La'gaan noticed, but he didn't go after her. She was obviously upset, so he let her be.

M'gann heard a growl which startled her. The white enhanced wolf walked up to her and nuzzled her hands. He started to whimper. It broke M'gann's heart hearing him whimper. She crouched and hugged him gently, "Oh, Wolf. I miss him too."

She let go of him and reassured him before continuing on her way, "Don't worry, we'll get him back."

He nodded and went back to his corner to sleep. M'gann looked at Nightwing, who was standing next to the exit, contemplating in thought, "Can I talk to you?"

The former Robin shrugged, "Sure."

…

"Is it true?" She started, "Are Kaldur and Artemis undercover?"

Dick stuttered. He didn't know what to say, "It's not."

" _Don't LIE to me!_ " M'gann hissed angrily. They were both on the rooftop of an abandoned warehouse, "Is – it – true?"

He looked down, not wanting to meet her gaze. He knew he was in trouble and that he could not get out of this situation, "Yes."

Her expression of grief turned into rage soon after. Tears streamed down as she tried to attack him. Nightwing quickly dodged out the way, "How could you keep this a secret from all of us!?"

"We had too," Nightwing held his hands out, not wanting to fight. M'gann wasn't just his teammate and friend, but family. The whole Team was family, "I'm sorry, M'gann."

"You better be!" She snarled as she calmed herself down, "Now Conner's gone! Don't tell me he knew about his too!?"

"He didn't! Believe me when I say this; we didn't want him involved."

" _DIDN'T WANT HIM INVOLVED!?"_ Her calmness faded away as she violently snapped.

"It was unexpected! OKAY!?" He moved back some more before looking back at him. Thankfully the warehouse was long and still durable, "Kaldur came in with news saying that the Light asked for Conner!"

She immediately stopped, for good, and listened.

Nightwing sighed, "If Kaldur didn't comply, then he would've been excommunicated from the Light, and we wouldn't have gotten the information on the Reach."

It was true, M'gann did not deny it.

"You think any of us wanted this, too? For Conner to be taken?" He asked her, "I don't want _anything_ to happen to him. Guess it's inevitable, though."

Dick stopped to breathe before talking again, "Conner's not just my friend, he's a _brother_ in my eyes. Just like you're a _sister_ to me _._ "

M'gann started to weep and hugged her _brother_ , "Dick… I need him."

He embraced her back, "I know you do. You still love him."

That was a definite fact. She hid it for too long, her love for Conner was still there. She nodded and remembered her terrible deeds, "I messed up so bad."

"What did you do?"

…

Dick was taken aback, "You… fried his Kaldur's brain?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized sadly, "I was just so… _angry_. I thought he legitimately killed her."

There was no point for Dick to get mad at her. She had a good reason for doing it; he guessed, "Black Manta's gonna come after you."

"I know he will. But maybe… maybe I can fix his mind, and we can escape and get Artemis and Conner out too," M'gann offered.

"No," Nightwing replied immediately, "You're not ready for that. And it's too risky."

"It's worth a shot, Dick!"

"We can't take the chance," He shook his head, disagreeing, "As of right now, taking down the Reach is of utmost importance! I'm sorry, but they'll have to wait."

"But it'll be too late by then!" She retorted, "What if Kaldur stays that way forever? What if Artemis is stuck as _Tigress_ for the rest of her life? And… what if Conner turns on us?"

"It's not gonna happen."

"Don't be so sure, Dick."

"We _need_ to be prepared to face the Reach. Know their tactics and strengths!"

She couldn't argue with him on that. She complied and nodded in agreement.

"Anyways, what else did you do?" He asked, "Besides frying Kaldur's brain? Anything I don't know?"

M'gann thought to herself. If she said this, there was no going back. But all secrets had to come out eventually. She imagined Zatanna looking at her in shame, saying, ' _I told you so!'_

"Yes, I do…"

…

"So that's how you two broke up," Nightwing said in shock. M'gann had told him everything. He couldn't believe it, "I thought _you_ dumped him."

She shook her head she sat down on the rooftop, overlooking the night sky. Nightwing lay beside her, "I could never dump him, Dick. I mean… how could I?"

"Right." He agreed. Dick thought, if he were a girl, Conner would be the perfect boyfriend. He immediately snapped out of that thought. _Don't even think about that._

"He's a great guy, you know?" She dreamily commented on his appearance, "Tall, handsome, blue eyes, black hair."

"Hmm…" Nightwing gazed at the stars, too, "Now I'm wondering…"

M'gann turned her head, "What?"

"What is it that you see in La'gaan?"

She laughed quietly then frowned, "Honestly, I have no clue."

"So why date him?" Dick asked a lot of hard questions.

"Because… he made me feel happy," this was a true statement, "Feel… better about myself. He made forget what I did. Well… for a while."

"No offense, but that's selfish of you."

"I know. I just… keep _overwhelming_ myself with everything."

Nightwing sighed and brought back an old saying of his. Something he had not for so long. It felt like millennia, "Why can't anyone just be whelmed? How hard can it be?"

"Staying whelmed? I'm more in traught, right now," She looked back at the stars. They were beautiful tonight. Dick studied her face. It was uneven.

Then he realized what could be in her thoughts, despite lacking any telepathic powers, "You're gonna break up with La'gaan. Aren't you?"

"He'd understand why." She responded, "It's better for him."

"Really?"

She nodded slowly, "Conner was right. La'gaan is just my ' _rebound guy from the Black Lagoon'._ And he deserves better than that."

There was no need for him to respond anymore, "Okay, I'm… gonna go back now, make sure the Team's still alive."

She smiled weakly, "Alright."

He stood up as he walked towards the edge, about to go down a ladder, "So… you gonna be okay?"

A long silence was set, then a sigh, "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"I know that's a lie, but I'll take it," he smiled before descending, leaving M'gann alone in the roof. But after five minutes of her in peace, Dick popped his head up unexpectedly, "M'gann?"

"Hmmm?" She hummed gently.

"I know this sounds ridiculous and off topic. You'd probably ignore answering me on this but… do you… do you think I have a shot with Barbara?" He asked with uncertainty in his voice, but still with high hopes.

M'gann smiled again, "You do. Go for it."

"Really? Thanks!" He said cheerfully and went down for good.

The Martian chuckled softly before resuming her peace. Her happiness disappeared since all she could think about was Conner. She began to weep quietly, contemplating all her mistakes. She felt like such a child. Biologically, she was the oldest out of the Team, but mentally and emotionally… the youngest; she was the most immature out of everybody.

 _Conner… I'm so sorry._ She squeezed her eyes, letting the tears stream down the sides, _Please be okay._

…

 _ **Al-Qawiya Outskirts **_

_**March 31, 23:01 EEST**_

The capital city of Bialya had experienced a major population increase. Traffic on the roads, large numbers of civilians walking on the sidewalks. It seemed as if they were going nowhere. But on the outskirts, there were small villages. More ancient, more pastoral. A nearest military base was only a few miles away from Al-Qawiya. That was where _he_ was being kept for the time being.

Superboy breathed weakly as his eyes slowly opened. At first sight, he realized that he was in a medium-sized, dark room. A green _lamp_ on the wall a few meters ahead of him; Kryptonite. Where was he? A prison cell perhaps? Whatever it was, it had no bars. They were not needed since the green mineral was useful enough. It seemed that there was nowhere for him or anybody else to go. Even had there been, the single inhabitant of the room was chained to his chair, unable to do more than rotate his head to the left and right. Conner knew he should have been at least amused and impressed that his captors were smart enough to put Kryptonite since they were most likely not taking chances with him. _Especially_ him; a half, but still strong, Kryptonian. But the only thing he could think about was the Team and their mission. Had they succeeded? Or worse, failed? Were they alright? M'gann was she alright? He thought. He could still feel he had endured when fighting Black Beetle. The alien had delivered with rehearsed skill, designed to hurt but not to permanently damage. But to him, it felt like permanent damage. The blows had felt spasmodic, as if they were from different times of the day, on different parts of his body.

The chains on him held him down on a table against an angled platform in the cell. Still disoriented, he thought he was alone. He was shocked to find that there was someone else in the room with him. It was understandable since the other person was standing within the shadows. The person did not move, did not make a sound, and scarcely, at times, seemed to breathe. Though startled by the appearance, Conner took a moment to take stock of his entire surroundings. They were obviously different as they could be imagined from his previous ones. The last thing he remembered was the confrontation in the ship of the Light's partner. Infiltrating the ship to know more of the partner, of course fighting Black Beetle and the Team getting pummeled by him and something about the Light wanting him specifically.

He was finally tired of the silence and asked the figure, "Who the hell are you?"

The figure smiled and towards him slowly. Conner recognized him once he stepped out of the shadows; the figure had a visible brain.

"Do you not remember me?" And an eerie voice as well.

Conner weakly groaned, "I knew it was _you_. Psimon."

"Good… evening," he said unevenly as he checked the time on his watch wrapped around his left wrist.

"Where am I?"

"Does the physical location truly matter to you?" There was unexpected gentleness in Psimon's voice. Not entirely sympathetic, but still somewhat hostile, "You are… obviously in a room, with one exit behind me, in a heavily guarded military base located on the outskirts of Al-Qawiya; the Capital of Bialya."

Conner chuckled darkly, "Bialya. So… I'm under Queen Bee's law now, huh?"

"Indeed you are." Psimon smiled and nodded.

"Does she want me as her personal slave or something?"

A light chuckle escaped Psimon's mouth, "Funny. But if it were true, you wouldn't be in this room. You'd be tied up in her bedroom, awaiting… _punishment_ from her."

Superboy couldn't agree more, Psimon had a point. Besides, he would rather be stuck in this very room rather than be a bondsman to Queen Bee's personal needs. He stopped joking and got serious, "Where are the others?"

"Be more specific. _Others_ can mean a plentiful of things."

"My friends. The Team."

Psimon sniffed contemptuously, "Well… I could easily tell you they were all killed. Beaten and slaughtered."

Conner was too weak to shout, so he growled with unkindness towards him. Who would have thought one Kryptonite lamp would weaken him. _Everybody would know_ , he thought. They weren't stupid to think more than one piece would make him vulnerable. One small inch was enough already.

"But I'd prefer to be completely honest with you," Psimon said, "You will be relieved to hear this; as far as their current status and well-being is your concern – I have no idea."

He stared at him. Though at the moment Conner was calm, he knew that if Psimon said one wrong word, it would most likely set him off, "Why are you here?"

"Because we were given a task." This confused Superboy, who raised an eyebrow.

" _We_?"

"Did you not feel _his_ presence?" Suddenly, a large stomp and a growl came from behind. A large hand laid on his head. It was heavy. Conner's hair was grabbed as his head was controlled by the hand.

"Do you know who I am?" A growling voice breathing close to his ear. A large black furred gorilla with red scars all over his body.

Conner also recognized him as he joked, "Grodd, is that you? You look like _shit_."

Gorilla Grodd huffed, "You dare speak to me with profanity? I am the same as before!"

"Relax, Grodd. Don't be tempted by his words," Psimon reassured him, "Besides, he won't be insulting you after this."

"True," The large telepathic ape huffed again, before clenching his fist tight, "But just for quick measure." He then jabbed the boy of steel's stomach.

Conner shouted loudly, groaning in sheer agony afterward. He breathed with his nose. _Okay, never mock a monkey… again._

They let his pain subside as they examined him. Psimon held his chin, "What do you think that the Light sees in you?"

Conner did not respond for a short period, "What do they see in _you_?"

Queen Bee's agent sighed and looked at Gorilla Grodd, he furrowed his brows and moved his head to Superboy's direction. The ape nodded and punched Superboy again. Harder. He groaned louder and hissed.

"I grow tired of his games." The enhanced gorilla growled at Superboy's face. Psimon ignored him as he asked Conner again.

"What do they see in you, Kon-El?" This time, there was no response. Conner only looked at him, and shrugged, "They see… _great potential_ in you."

He gave Superboy a moment of silence to ponder his words. _Great potential?_

"Yes, Kon-El. Great potential," Grodd replied slowly. He read his mind.

"But first, Psimon and Gorilla Grodd have some work to do before you are ready," Psimon said before touching his brain. At first, Conner did not feel anything; he moved his iris' and chuckled, a smug look plastered on his face. Psimon grinned and chuckled in return, "It looks like you can resist one. But did you learn how to resist _two_?"

Gorilla Grodd laughed as his forehead started to glow a reddish-purple. Conner's smug was wiped away as he whistled in total discomfort. His eyes were rapidly blinking as he breathed in and out hard.

"Is it funny to you now?" The ape mocked as payback. Superboy never felt such pain like this before.

"Poor you," Psimon said in a mocked disappointing tone. He was looking through his memories, "Always lonely nowadays. Your birthday was unnoticed. The Martian girl hurt you, didn't she? Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk, you cannot sleep properly because of her, either. At night, so desperate to try. But you are haunted that she might toy with your brain again."

Tears streamed down his face in an attempt to try and withstand them both. He was at his most vulnerable. As his desperation increased, he tried to tried to strike out. But because of the Kryptonite in the room, and the immense amount of telepathy encircling the room, his body did not respond.

"But when you do, you have dreams. Dreams of visibly aging," Psimon grinned, "You wish to become like Superman, your wish-to-be father. And you want to have a family of your own, too, how sweet," Psimon then turned dead serious, "It is a _dead end_ for you, that false vision. Let go of it. I can tell you right now, the Light may think of this as a disappointment for you."

All the rage and terror that was bottled up in him came out as he turned finally focused his eyes on both of them. He growled savagely, his strength attempting to build, "Get – out – of – my – HEAD!"

Psimon backed away, startled by Superboy's sudden outburst. But it made Grodd lean closer. He knew the boy of steel was undeniably helpless in this situation, so he took advantage of it, "You serve a purpose to the Light, Superboy. You are to join us. _Become one of us._ "

Where the strength to shout back came from, Conner was clueless. But if anything, his voice grew a bit more stronger, " _I will NEVER be one of you._ "

Psimon came closer again. His response to the 'ageless' Kryptonian reflected his true unconcern, "We shall see. But will all these memories of yours, you'll thank us one day for… _erasing them_."

Superboy widened his eyes. _No._ He fought back, focusing hard not to succumb. But, unfortunately, it was no use. They began to overpower him.

"He's weakening, Psimon! DO IT NOW!" Gorilla Grodd shouted.

Psimon held his head tighter and laughed evilly, "I am way ahead of you."

Conner's shook his head violently, "No… no… no… NO!"

" _Sometimes, Psimon may not see you. Sometimes, Psimon may not catch you…"_

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!" He cried out.

" _But sometimes, Psimon can make you… FORGET!"_

…

 _ **Cliffhanger… sorry.**_

 _ **Poor M'gann, she misses him dearly. But more importantly, poor Conner. :(**_

 _ **Did I point out there was humor in this? Yes, I did. XD**_

 _ **And yes, the Team are like family in my opinion. The first Team from Season One, I mean. Also, I would like to get your opinions on Dick and M'gann's sibling-like relationship. Not that I have any issue with Gar and M'gann's. Seriously, I do.**_

 _ **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review and let me know what you all thought.**_

 _ **Have a great day/night!**_


	6. Given Back

_**Chapter 6: Given Back **_

_**I just realized that there was a mistake in the last chapter; March 32 does not exist! Glad that I edited and re-uploaded the chapter. XD**_

 _ **I hope you guys are enjoying this story so far? This will start to get interesting! :)**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**_

…

 _ **Al-Qawiya Outskirts**_

 _ **April 15, 15:47 EEST**_

It had been a mere two weeks, and he still did not know where he was or how he was there in the first place. All he knew was that he was in a dark room, with a strange green mineral that made him weak. How was that possible? But out of all his infinite questions of his whereabouts, most importantly… _who was_ _he?_ Conner. The was his name. The only name he knew. Someone had given that name to him. But who?

From what he could tell, due to the fact that there were two heavily armed soldiers guarding him in his room, he was most likely in a high-security prison or a military base that was heavily guarded. For what reason? Did he do something wrong?

The only door in the room hissed open, and two figures walked in. The guards saluted and took one step back. One a female, the other the same male who visited every day to check on him. To Conner, he was the strangest thing ever because of the visible brain.

"That is not what the Light asked for you and Grodd to do, Psimon." The woman scolded the shorter man.

"My sheer apologies, we must have gotten lost in translation."

She glared at him, "Consider yourself lucky that you're under my wing _._ "

The man, _Psimon_ , cowered back in shame as the woman moved closer to Conner. She was slender with dark skin and long raven black hair. She wore a strapless gray mini-skirt dress with black pants and high-heel boots. Around her shoulders was a translucent pale blue veil and a golden diadem on her forehead.

"Hello, there, young man." The woman greeted in a soothing tone. She quickly moved her eyes up and down, examining his physique.

"H… hi," Conner spoke nervously in front of her. He knew he was in captivity for whatever reason. But held in captivity under a woman? Was she a leader who just liked to dress fancily? So many questions.

"Would you like to remember?"

Conner turned his head, raising a brow, "I'm sorry?"

"Your memories, would you like them back?"

Without hesitation or any thought, he nodded desperately, "Please."

A smile appeared on the woman's face as she turned to look at Psimon. She gestured her head and his. He nodded and touched his head and hers. Conner was clueless as to what they were doing, but it did not matter to him. He just wanted his memories back.

Psimon let go of the woman's head and his.

"Leave us," she ordered, to which Psimon replied and gestured to the guards as well, who followed him out the room. Once she and Conner were alone, she cupped his face, "Welcome back."

Then it flowed as he breathed slowly. The memories started coming back. He remembered. A clone of Superman, that was who he was, created to replace him should the Man of Steel himself perish, destroy him should he turn evil. He was part of a Team. His friends, all their names were familiar again. They were not just friends, however, but also family to him. His only family. Two companions, Wolf and Sphere, a strong bond with both of them. And then there was _her_. M'gann. The one who gave him the name, Conner. How he hated and loved her at the same time.

"Do you know who I am, _Kon-El_?"

"Queen Bee. But only Superman can say _that_ name." He replied bitterly, "But thank you."

She smiled, "You are most welcome."

A question rang from the back and front of his head, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why give back my memories?" The Kryptonite in the room kept him from raising his voice.

"The Light does not tolerate such a crime to the minds of others. We seek only for everyone, human or not, to…"

" _See the Light._ " He interrupted her boringly, "Understand that it's not going to work."

Queen Bee squinted at him before calling one of the guards from outside the room, specifically one who held a brown box. He came in as the door hissed open, handing her the box with care. What was inside? He saw a green mineral. Kryptonite… again. He sighed in his mind, _Great… more of this shit._

"Release him," the attractive female tyrant ordered calmly. Two more guards came in and unlocked his restraints. Free from his shackles, he fell down. He still wasn't strong enough in this condition to attempt an escape. Kill the guards and incapacitate Queen Bee, and haunt Psimon for the rest of his life. He wouldn't dare lay a finger of Gorilla Grodd. There was no explanation needed as to why.

Queen Bee, out of everyone in the room, helped him up, but he swatted away her hand, "I'm not a child. I can get up on my own."

"You may look older, but you are technically six-years-old. Are you not?" She reminded, raising both her eyebrows. Conner grunted once he saw her holding handcuffs with the small piece of Kryptonian in between them, "We haven't got all day."

He sighed and put his hands out.

…

The military base was one of the largest he had ever seen. Five-hundred tanks, a hundred each row. Fifty fighter jets parked either outside near the runway or in hangars. Soldiers working everywhere, repairing damaged utility, practicing in firing ranges or training in close quarter combat.

"Where are you taking me?" Conner asked curiously.

Queen Bee did not respond as she continued to walk forward. Four guards behind Superboy.

"I'll take him from here," she told her guards in her native language as they saluted and went on their separate ways. Conner followed her into an elevator who spoke to the elevator in her language, "Top floor."

" _Confirmed."_ A female Bialyan voice was the announcer.

It was a quiet moment in the elevator. They minded their own business. Conner looked around the elevator as Queen Bee tapped her foot on the ground, impatiently.

"I'll ask again; _where are you taking me_?" He broke the silence.

She responded almost simultaneously, "If you kept your mouth shut, I might actually tell you."

He examined her face. She was annoyed. But it did not rebuff him, "Fine."

And after a moment's silence, he spoke again, "So where are you taking me?"

"What made you think I would actually tell you?"

"You're one of the bad guys. A person who rules her nation with _brutality_ and an _iron fist._ I'd expect villains like you to always explain your evil plans in detail. Besides, you seem like someone who's willing to share anything. Especially if you're wearing such clothing like _that._ "

She leaned in closer, trying to intimidate him, " _You – do not – know – me."_

He smiled at her, "I never said I did."

It felt as if she were to explode. "Lucky for you the Light has plans for you. If not, you'd be dead by now." The elevator doors opened and she walked straight out, "Follow me."

He followed and said in his mind, " _Lucky for you the Light has purpose for you… for some reason."_

Queen Bee stopped again and looked at him, shocked as her face showed. They looked at each other funny, "Excuse me?"

"What?" Conner asked.

"I could have sworn you said something to me."

"I didn't."

She was about to insist further but groaned out of irritation instead, "Just keep walking."

As they moved their feet, Conner looked down on the floor _._ What the hell just happened?

…

 _ **Atlantic Ocean**_

 _ **April 15, 21:42 EDT**_

Miss Martian had been captured a week earlier on Black Manta's orders. He sought vengeance on her for what she did to his son, Kaldur'ahm. Nightwing was right, she wasn't ready for something like this. She didn't know how to fix a person's brain. She tried fixing the Krolotean, but she failed in doing so.

Tigress regretted capturing her. But it was the only way she could escape blowing her cover.

How did it all go so wrong so fast? She would say she had no one to blame but herself, except it was getting a little hard to remember exactly who "herself" is. Thanks to the glamor charm, the whole world was thinking that she was Tigress, a professional assassin and trusted member of Black Manta's organization. But she is one of the few people the charm does not affect. And when she looked at herself in the mirror, it showed the only reminder she had left that she was still Artemis. What was she thinking in the first place? She and Wally really had something special together. Leaving the hero world behind so they could finally be _normal_. But once Nightwing called her… she couldn't say "yes" fast enough. This _was_ her life. Fighting crime and being a hero. She could never take that away from herself.

A few days ago M'gann was being threatened with death if she did not repair Kaldur's broken mind. Luckily, Aqualad wasn't an emotionless zombie for too long. He definitely had a strong mind.

Now, the three of them were discussing, in a telepathic link, on how to plan an escape.

" _We cannot leave, M'gann_." Aqualad shook his head, " _Artemis and I must stay, it is YOU who must escape."_

" _But what about Conner?"_

" _Conner isn't here, M'gann!"_ Artemis shouted, " _We were informed that he's all the way in Bialya!"_

The Martian's eyes widened before replying, feeling weak, " _Bialya? But… that's too far."_

" _M'gann, I'm sorry. But you need to escape before it's too late. Black Manta will kill you."_

" _What? But…"_

The door to Kaldur's room hissed open to the right and Black Manta walked in. He focused on M'gann, "You better not be stalling, Martian."

"She is not stalling, father," Aqualad replied, surprising Black Manta.

He walked to the side of the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Son?"

"Yes, father. I am alright," he reassured him, "Miss Martian has almost finished fixing my mind."

"Good," Black Manta nodded. They were pretty sure he was smiling behind the helmet, "May I request to… speak to my son alone?"

"Yes sir," Tigress said as she grabbed M'gann by her collar. She had to play along, "Come with me!"

Once they were both out of the room, Black Manta spoke, "Kaldur'ahm. I know your secrets."

Kaldur stared at his father, "What… what do you mean?"

"You're a double agent. Are you not?" His voice did not represent anger, it represented sadness, "You and your _lieutenant?"_

"Father… how did you know?"

"Your suits wrist hologram came up. You were sharing intel with your Team."

Aqualad refused to look at him, "Forgive me, father."

"I do forgive you, Kaldur'ahm," Black Manta took off his helmet as he replied, stunning his son, "And I can assure you with this; the Light is not your home. You will never be one of them. You have established yourself as a great hero to the surface world. You do not belong here."

"But if I leave, you must leave as well. Come back to Atlantis, re-establish yourself there. King Orin will understand." Kaldur said with high hopes his father would say yes, but his reply was a snort.

"It's not Aquaman who I am worried about. It is Sha'lain'a who I'm afraid of." He said unevenly.

"Mother would be more than happy to see you, there is nothing for you to be worried about," Kaldur replied with a smile.

"But… she is married, is she not?"

"Not anymore, father." He shook his head, "Please?"

Black Manta hesitated to speak. Should he leave the Light? He would most likely be killed. But to finally be with family, living a normal life in Atlantis, did not sound bad, "I will take it into consideration. But for now, you may only speak of this with your friends."

He stood up and put on his helmet again, "And I will inform you about your Kryptonian friend if possible."

"Will do, father," He nodded. As Manta left the room, M'gann and Tigress were invited back in.

"He knows?" M'gann sat on the stool next to Kaldur's bed.

"Yes, but we have to keep this a secret," he explained as they both understood, "And M'gann, he will give us updates on Superboy if he has the chance."

She sighed in relief as she leaned on the wall behind her, "Oh… good. I need to relax."

"What else?" Tigress inquired.

"Nothing, we wait until further notice." That was the last thing he said as they attended to their own needs. Kaldur went back to sleep, M'gann rested on the wall, thinking about Conner's wellbeing and how to break up with La'gaan without upsetting him and Artemis looked at herself in the mirror, contemplating her life.

…

 _ **Deep Space**_

 _ **April 16, 00:01 UTC**_

A fleet mixed of small, medium and large alien ships floated off or around a planet. A dark, red planet. Horrifying and dangerously active, with a mean surface temperature that varied merely from hot to hellbent, this planet was a monster: it had massive crater like holes that fire escaped from. To those who were familiar with the name struck fear into their hearts.

Apokolips. A planet at war with its lighter counterpart, New Genesis. Both planets consisted of the same species; New Gods.

In its center was a massive palace. At its heart was great throne room full of slaves working and their beaters, who whipped on them countless times.

A tall, dark figure sat on the very throne, speaking to someone via a large red-tinted hologram.

"As you have requested my friend," Vandal Savage spoke to the being on the throne, "The Kryptonian will soon be delivered to you in the coming months. He will be ready by then."

"Good," the being declaimed, his voice deep, frighteningly soothing, and very much that of someone who was in complete control. Upon closing the hologram, he grinned and laughed to himself evilly. _Finally, my first Kryptonian in my army will be in my grasp!_

…

 _ **So from this point on, Conner will be starting to discover his telepathic powers and soon… his telekinesis. But more surprises will come along the way. :)**_

 _ **Sorry if this feels too convoluted for you. But at least it's not as confusing as the DCEU. And I'm not talking about the fans being confused (because most of them won't be), I'm talking about casual movie-goers who will be confused. I won't go into full detail about this since I don't want an argument to ensue in the review section or in my private messages.**_

 _ **Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know what you all thought!**_

 _ **Have a great day/night!**_


	7. Hope Lost

_**Chapter 7: Hope Lost**_

 _ **Apologies for the weak and atrocious chapter that was the previous one. Hopefully, it will be forgotten thanks to this chapter?**_

 _ **More from me at the end.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**_

…

 _ **Atlantic Ocean**_

 _ **April 16, 15:12 EDT**_

"You know what's funny?" M'gann asked weakly. Her tone was lower compared to her normal voice. She was sitting on the floor, she leaned her head on the wall and her back was slouched.

"What?" Artemis crouched down.

"I was brought here for nothing." She chuckled lightly.

"Not necessarily, M'gann. You did help me in the process of repairing my mind." Kaldur pointed out, wanting to lighten up her mood.

"Partially," Her voice was worn-out, "I feel useless right now."

"M'gann, stop," Artemis warned her in a disciplined tone. She heard the Martian's stomach growl. Loud and clear, "Are you hungry?"

M'gann nodded. "Very."

Artemis got up and walked to the door, "I'll be right back."

…

Artemis, as Tigress, walked down the submarine's hallways in peace, not wanting to make eye contact with anybody. It was quiet for a while until Black Manta showed up.

" _Tigress_ ," he said uncomfortably, "Is everything alright?"

She knew why he spoke this way, as multiple Manta Troopers were walking down the hallway as well. Very busy. So he was playing along; Artemis did too.

"Yes, the Martian is hungry."

"Very well," He nodded and moved on, "You may continue."

"Understood, sir." Then she went on her way.

…

 _ **Bialya**_

 _ **April 16, 15:31 EEST**_

The anguish cries of agony echoed around a dome structured room. Dark again. Superboy felt the electricity pierce into his skin. It was a strange pain as if someone stabbed him multiple times in different areas of his body with the sharpest blade in the world. But it doesn't stop there. It felt as if the current traveled through his veins until it reached his heart. And he hated every second of it. How long would this take? This had been going on since last night.

" _That is enough_ ," Queen Bee called off her scientists. They spoke in Bialyan, as Conner somehow understood.

" _He is a strong one, my leader!"_ The scientist commented.

Once again, Conner was confined to handcuffs. This time, he lay on a table, a spotlight shining on him. More Kryptonite; he was unsurprised about that. As he panted heavily, he pondered what would happen next. It was still strange. His memories were erased, then given back. Afterward, tortured? None of it made sense. Nothing made sense. He was a clone living in a world that was filled with superheroes and supervillains. In his mind, he didn't make sense; not visibly aging while still in love with a Martian.

He quickly glanced at Queen Bee who was whispering to a hooded figure. Conner had thought it was Psimon. No. Someone else; a more frightening appearance with paler skin, sunken red eyes, and stringy black hair. The right side of his face was grotesquely deformed, with flesh growing from his cheek down the collar of his clothes. He wore a purple, hooded robe with a metal shoulder/neck covering. After moments on studying his face, once he heard the figure laugh, he remembered who he was.

Desaad. Conner reminded himself what Dreamer of the Forever People once told him, _Desaad, God Scientist and Chief Torturer of Apokolips. His experiments are pure evil. His works, abominations._

That was all he needed to remember. Desaad was dangerous. Where he came from, Apokolips was dangerous as well. But what could he do? He couldn't escape back.

Slow footsteps got louder each step. Desaad was walking towards him. As the Apokoliptian towered over him, he grabbed Conner's face by the chin. His hands were a horrid sight. Fingernails were long and dirty and uneven hairs as well. Conner wanted to vomit, but he hadn't eaten for a while, so nothing came out.

"Such a handsome boy," an edgy voice came out of his mouth, "You will be of fine use to Uxas."

 _Who?_

"Shall I commence?" Desaad slowly turned to Queen Bee and another presence Conner hadn't noticed. A bald man, wearing a suit. Tall and moderately well built. As the man walked into the lights, Conner knew his green eyes and high cheekbones belonged to no other but his other genetic template. Lex Luthor.

"Not yet. I wish to speak with him for a moment," the businessman said. His voice was surprisingly normal, not his evil intentions voice. Just normal. Desaad nodded as he took a few steps back and presented Conner with his right hand, "Hello, Conner."

"Cut the shit, _Luthor_ ," his reply was dark and un-mannerly, "Unless you want me to call you, _dad._ "

Lex sighed sadly and whispered, "I may be with the Light, but… I never wanted this to happen."

"Stop acting as if you're my father and I'm your son!" Conner was bitter, " _You are not my father._ If you were, you'd get me out of here. Are you?"

No response as Lex stood there, unable to speak, sadness was a stone stuck in his chest.

"That's what I thought," he huffed, "Do me a favor… _drop dead._ "

Luthor looked at him sadly. It was obvious Conner hated him, so it wasn't a big surprise to him. He rotated and moved away, gesturing to Desaad. The Apokoliptian nodded and went back to Conner.

"Leave us," Desaad said to everyone in the room, "This will only take a while, but it won't be… _pretty._ "

They all left.

A small fit of laughter from Desaad filled the room, as he leaned down and whispered to the boy of steel, "Queen Bee mentioned something that concerns you."

Kon-El breathed slowly, "Like what?"

"Well… apparently you said something to her… but you didn't?"

He didn't say anything.

Desaad moved his head away and patted his shoulder, "I deduced… that you are possessing _strong telepathic_ _abilities_."

 _How is that even possible?_ He thought.

"My dear boy, in a world full of aliens from distant planets, metahumans, Atlanteans, and superheroes wearing tight clothing… anything is possible."

His eyes widened. It happened again, and he couldn't believe it.

"And besides, my theory seemed too inescapable for disagreement," Desaad reasoned. A fair point, but still oddly ridiculous to Conner's eyes, "Thankfully for you, here is no necessary need for training you in this. You can master it in a matter of days."

"Good, because I'd rather be killing you that being trained by you." He spat out viciously as his eyebrows drew closer together, bringing up his head slightly.

Desaad, seemingly calm, grabbed Conner's temples with one hand; he brought and smashed his head back down on the table, "Now now, _Superboy_ , there is no need to be hostile."

"What's your real game, huh!?" He taunted.

"To help you see… _the Light_ ," suddenly, both of Desaad's eyes glowed red, "I heard you could withstand Psimon, but that is not the case with me."

Conner started to growl and scream, gritting his teeth, wanting to escape from the hell he was in.

"I will not wipe your memories. No, that is too cruel. Why would I?" Desaad relieved him, "But I know… deep down… you are full of darkness, my boy."

Conner felt his heart stop. He started to panic. For the six years in his life, he kept his darkness hidden away, dumped to the very reaches of his soul. In no way he would let it escape now. Let alone, be brainwashed by this guy.

Desaad brought both his hands around Conner. The struggling soon commenced, "Now, _Kon-El._ Break."

"No." He moved his head from left to right vigorously, "I… I won't."

Desaad chuckled loudly and tested him, "Brave words… but are _you_ brave enough?"

He wanted to say, _I am,_ but constant yelling in pure torture interrupted. No matter how hard he fought back, Desaad was far too superior. Stronger than Psimon's mind. And most definitely stronger than M'gann's mind. If the Kryptonite in the room was not present at all, he thought that there could have been a slight chance of him beating Desaad. Suddenly, his eyes started to flicker red with each blink. The red was darker compared to Desaad's.

"That's it," he laughed, "Just a little more."

"Argh! _ARGH!_ " He grunted. Then it became growling, which turned into louder yelling.

"You are full of potential," Desaad commented, "But you are full of fear. You… fear for your own future. Ageing internally."

Conner did not want to be reminded of his issues, but there was nothing he could do or say. He began to fade slowly.

"You are indeed strong minded. Such strength could move an object without touching it. _Telekinesis._ " The Apokoliptian pointed out, "Interesting…"

He was shocked to know he had that as well, but he couldn't imagine anymore. He was giving up hope, something he thought he would never let go. But he did. Evil started to take over. Desaad felt triumphant, the brainwashing process was almost complete.

Then the tragic event happened. Desaad did not know what happened. At six years of age, Conner Kent was dead. And _reborn_.

…

 _ **Atlantic Ocean**_

 _ **April 16, 16:06 EDT**_

"What's gonna happen now?" M'gann inquired as she munched on the food on her plate.

"We just wait," Artemis replied, "Until Black Manta gives us an escape plan."

She nodded as a response and continued to eat. Kaldur'ahm was out of his bed, finally. He was in the bathroom, washing his face. The three of them individually pondered what could happen to each and everyone of them. Especially Conner, who was all the way across the world.

The bedroom door abruptly hissed open. Black Manta entered, "Kaldur'ahm?"

"Yes, father?" Aqualad walked out of the bathroom, as he dried his wet face.

Manta walked into the center of the room, allowing the door to close properly, "I am… truly sorry."

The three looked at him with puzzled faces. _What?_

"All the Light's leaders received a message twenty minutes ago. I knew should have informed you earlier." He brought his head down.

"Father… what happened?" Kaldur asked nervously.

He hesitated but eventually did, "Your friend, the Kryptonian… is dead."

Conner was… _dead?_ That was unexpected. They felt their hearts stop. Kaldur slowly walked back to his bed while Tigress ran to M'gann's side. All had shocked expressions.

M'gann dropped her plate, her hands shook violently as she clutched herself, curling into a ball. Her breathing was abnormal. She screeched and sobbed irregularly.

Hope for her was lost.

…

 _ **I heard of a terrible tragedy that happened pretty recently. You probably heard of Zack Snyder's daughter committing suicide.**_

 _ **Let's all pay our respects and pray for Zack and his family. No parent should ever go through with this. I don't know all the details, and I don't want to know either because it's none of my business. Hope he heals by the end of the year.**_

 _ **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter (definitely better than the last one; horrible as well). Please review and let me know what you all thought.**_

 ** _Have_** _**a great day/night.**_


	8. The Awakening

_**Chapter 8: The Awakening**_

 _ **Hello there. It's been a while, hasn't it?**_

 _ **I just needed a break and relax after my exams and stuff like that. But now I'm back! I think this is probably going to be the second last chapter. It depends on how it goes.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**_

…

 _ **Atlantic Ocean**_

 _ **April 17, 01:03 EDT**_

It was late at night. The Manta submarine was hiding in a dark, open spaced crevice. The entire workforce was at rest. Black Manta knew this was a perfect opportunity for his son and his two friends to escape.

M'gann and Artemis, still in her Tigress persona, were ready. They waited for Kaldur. The Martian held her own arms, squeezing them tight. Despite the wet tears streaming down her face, she managed to keep herself from crying this time, at the very least. She was in disbelief still, hoping this was a bad dream and that she would wake up. Sadly, it wasn't. This was very real. And she couldn't bring herself to accept that Conner was dead. _He's still alive, I know it,_ she thought, _He has to be._

Artemis sighed and hugged M'gann, whispering, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she replied, "I don't think he's…"

"M'gann, Black Manta got this information from the other members of the Light. And let's remind ourselves of the Light; they are anything but a joke."

"Well, what if… what if they were…"

"Stop it, M'gann. Don't make this a fantasy. You have to accept it. _Conner is… gone._ " Artemis said as tears streamed down as well. She immediately wiped them.

M'gann stared at her, she wanted to protest, but it felt unnecessary. Wiping her tears away, she nodded as Kaldur came into their view. He was wearing his original superhero suit; a skin-tight, full-body, red-and-blue swimsuit.

"Nice suit," Artemis commented.

He gave a weak smile, "It does feel good to be wearing this. But we must go now, my father is waiting."

…

"Just follow my lead." Black Manta said as they all strolled down the hallway, "In here."

They entered the docking area, packed with Manta flyers.

"Use your Flyer, Kaldur'ahm," Manta activated the control panel to open the floor, revealing the cold, blue ocean. M'gann and Tigress entered, while Kaldur spoke to his father.

"You are not coming with us?"

"I'm sorry, my son, but I cannot abandon my duties. The Light would come after me and kill us all."

Aqualad nodded in understand before embracing his father, "You know… I still do not know your real name, father."

Black Manta did not say anything.

"Father, you are not truly from the seas. Am I correct?"

"...Yes," he said, taking off his helmet, "My name is David Hyde. I am of human origin. Came from an African-American family, captured at a young age and experimented on. That is why I am like… _this._ "

"It does not matter to me, you are still my father," Kaldur replied almost instantly, "You are sure you cannot come with us?"

Hyde nodded, "I am certain, my boy. Now go."

Kaldur wasted no time. Once he entered, Kaldur closed the doors, "See you soon, father."

…

"Are we ready to depart?" Artemis inquired Aqualad as the latter walked into the front of the Flyer, sitting on the control seat.

"We are," He replied, using the Flyer's joystick to control his descent, "We're going home."

M'gann sat alone, and murmured, "Great."

…

 _ **Blüdhaven**_

 _ **April 17, 02:51 EDT**_

Nightwing stayed up all night until the early morning. Batgirl and Robin did not leave his sight. Dick contemplated how he would play this out. Should he tell everyone the little secret he kept from them? They had to know, he said. Or else…

"Dick, you're exhausted," Batgirl took off her cowl, getting ready to retire for the night, "Take a rest."

"Can't," he stood up from his seat and turned to face both his subordinates, "There's… something I need to tell you guys. Something that… I should have said before."

"What is it?" Barbara asked as she and Tim looked at him with curious looks.

He hesitated, "Kaldur… is not a traitor." And he explained himself. His two listeners had opened ears, digesting everything he said; faking Artemis's death and Conner's unwanted capture.

"Dick, you really should have told us sooner," Tim winced, "The rest need to know about this."

"I know that. I'll tell them tomorrow," Nightwing replied, taking off his eye mask and yawning, "I think I need to retire for the night."

"It's 2 AM," Barbara said with a sly smile.

He snorted and shrugged, "Still night to me."

Then, the Manta-Flyer came into their view, ascending from the greenish waters. It was an unexpected surprise to Dick as Kaldur, M'gann and Artemis got out from its back.

"Kaldur? What are you doing here?"

"My father found out."

"And you escaped?"

" _He helped us escape_."

"What?" Dick squinted in curiosity. Barbara and Tim were right behind him, listening.

…

Hearing what Kaldur talked about was shocking.

"Okay, but did he give you anything before you left?" Nightwing questioned, "We still need every viable information to take down the Reach."

"He did not give me anything, why?"

"The Reach is the Justice League's top priority right now. They revealed to the United Nations about the Watchtower's location," Barbara said before groaning, "Now the whole world knows about it."

The three widened their eyes. This meant bad news.

"It's all over the news and social media; GBS, CNN, BBC, Twitter, Facebook. Heck, even Instagram!" Tim expressed the range of the world's new knowledge on their main Headquarters.

"Besides that," Dick changed the subject, "Anything on Superboy?"

At this moment, M'gann froze again. She breathed and stiffened her posture, not wanting to weep in front of all of them.

"Miss M, what happened?" Nightwing went straight to the point, walking close to her and placing his hands gently on her shoulders, "What happened to Conner?"

Her mouth opened up for her to speak, yet no words could come out. It closed and opened multiple times. She didn't want to say anything, as a small drop of water slowly slid down her face, "I'm sorry… I can't."

He nodded in understanding, switching his attention to Artemis. The archer took off her disguise mask and charm, her fake black hair changed back to her natural blonde hair, "Artemis?"

She sighed and spoke with a low voice, "Black Manta gave informed us of an _incident_ in Bialya. Conner was…*sad sigh*… Conner was killed during an experiment." Artemis cringed after what she revealed.

Batgirl and Robin looked at each other with a mixture of sad and shocked expressions, while Nightwing stared into nothingness. He looked down sorrowfully, letting go of M'gann's shoulders and then walking away.

"Artemis," he spoke quietly, "Do you mind letting Miss M stay with you in Wally's house?"

"Sure." She nodded and walked with M'gann out of the warehouse to find a zeta tube location.

"Batgirl, Robin; both of you go home and rest."

"But what about you?" Batgirl asked.

"I'm fine. I'll just stay up some more, figure some stuff out." Once he said that the two Bat family members nodded and walked out as well. Kaldur was the only person left with him. And he did not leave. He didn't want to anyways.

"Would you like some help?" He offered, "I have nowhere to go, so at least you have my company."

Nightwing chuckled darkly, "Just like old times?"

"Yes. _Just like old times_."

…

 _ **Palo Alto**_

 _ **April 17, 03:12 PDT**_

Artemis and M'gann transported via zeta beam. They teleported to a dark alleyway in Downtown Palo Alto. The archer carried a green duffle bag.

"Okay," Artemis said, "First, we gotta change into civilian clothes."

M'gann shapeshifted her clothing and skin tone. She wore her usual light purple cardigan over a plain white shirt and dark blue jeans.

Artemis stared at her with an annoyed look before opening dropping the duffle bag on the floor and took out pants and a black turtleneck, "I wish I had your shapeshifting ability."

"You surely do," the Martian was most of the time very quiet. Artemis understood that, obviously, since they were friends for six years.

Their walk to Wally's home was quiet. M'gann kept her distance, lips sealed. But Artemis refused to have silence, "M'gann, you can talk to me. I'm your best friend for crying out loud."

She didn't respond. She didn't want to. But Artemis refused to give up.

"You still love him. Right?"

After a long while, M'gann gave in, "Yes. And I fucked up massively."

…

 _ **Bialya**_

 _ **April 17, 04:23 UTC**_

"That's impossible! He can't be dead!" Lex Luthor exclaimed at Desaad. The businessman himself was not his usual self. Calm and composed, yet so evil behind the eyes. But he was fuming. Conner's _lifeless_ body lay on the table where he once was.

"Believe me, human. I did not expect this to happen." Desaad replied. He was uncertain as to what had happened. Under any circumstance, someone would not have died from his experiments. This might have been his first failure.

"Now what will _he_ think if _he_ finds out." Queen Bee was in the room as well and referred to a man, or perhaps, a being, " _He_ will most likely kill you."

"Uxas would not do such things! I am his chief scientist! Nobody in Apokolips can match my intellect. _He_ cannot kill me, nor can _he_ replace me!"

Psimon appeared came into view, coming from the main entrance, and spoke directly to his superior, "You called for Psimon, my queen?"

"Yes," she nodded as she gestured a finger, telling him to come close, "There is something you must try and do."

"What would Psimon be required for?"

Queen Bee looked at Luthor, then to Desaad, then back at Psimon, "Scan Superboy's mind."

Lex sighed, "Conner is dead. His brain is not functioning _AND_ has no heartbeat."

"Wait, that may work. If you can find memories in the brain, it may show signs that he is still alive," Desaad commented.

"HE IS _DEAD_!" Luthor shouted, "How blind are all of you!?"

"We are not blind!" Queen Bee retaliated, "At least… _TRY!"_

"Try or not! Psimon won't get anything!" An argument between just them both ensued. It sounded like an old married couple having a fight for the hundredth time. Desaad and Psimon ignored them as the pair walked over to Superboy's body. It was quiet between them, though.

"Do it," Desaad said. Psimon nodded as a response and touched his brain with his left hand, while his right was on Superboy's head. He closed his eyes to concentrate, hoping to find something in Conner's mind. After five minutes, Luthor and Queen Bee's argument stopped while Desaad asked the latter's agent, "Are you getting anything?"

He shook his head, "Nothing."

The Apokoliptian groaned in pure frustration, slamming his head on a nearby tray, its utensils clattering on the ground like glass, "Useless! Try harder!"

"A task like this will require patience, Desaad."

"Uxas will not take patience as an excuse to your current speed!" His voice raised.

Psimon ignored him this time and kept looking, " I believe… I believe I may have gotten something… yes… yes… I'm getting more."

Luthor had shocked expressions on his face. Could Conner still be alive?

"His memories, they are starting flowing through. There is a sense of him still being alive! Good, now Desaad… I believe you should learn the word pati…"

Suddenly, and unexpectedly, the white lights around the room's ceiling began to flicker violently.

"What's going on, Bee?" Luthor asked the female tyrant, "You told me this base had a good power source."

"It does!" She replied, "Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Desaad," she turned her attention to the mad scientist, "You deduced that Superboy possessed telepathy, yes?"

"Indeed I did, and… something else."

"And what's that?" She asked.

A metal tray from the edge of the room clanked hard on the floor.

" _That._ Telekinesis." He revealed simply.

Luthor looked around the room. More objects started to move around and hit the floor, "That's impossible."

Desaad chuckled darkly, " _Nothing is impossible._ And besides, this is just the beginning of Kon-El's journey."

"' _Journey'_?" Queen Bee felt frightened of the situation.

"His journey to becoming one of us," he said evilly, clasping his hands, "I've seen what he can potentially become under Uxas."

"And what would that be?" Luthor asked.

Desaad pulled something under his coat, a gold plated ring with a red crystal on the top, and announced proudly, "Do you know what this is?"

Lex looked closer at the ring. He widened his eyes, realizing what the crystal was. He immediately dashed forward at Desaad, "No!"

But he was too late as Desaad had put the ring on Conner's ring finger on his right hand; Conner's body tensed violently.

"Psimon, leave his mind! Now!" Queen Bee called out to her agent.

"Ps… Psi… Psimon… cannot leave. Psimon is… tr… trapped," he stuttered.

"What's happening, Desaad?" Luthor demanded threateningly.

The Apokoliptian looked at him, " _The Awakening_."

Conner's eyes opened slowly. His natural blue eyes were gone, replaced with the bloodiest of red. He sat upwards, looking straight at Psimon with the glare of death. Without further notice, a hand with a tight gripped locked onto Psimon's neck, Conner lifting him up from the floor. Queen Bee did not act, fearing for her own life, not caring about Psimon any longer.

"Trying to get into my mind again, huh?" Superboy hissed tauntingly, "That is never going to happen… _ever_ _again_."

"Psimon… will make you… for…" Before he could finish his sentence, it was at that moment, he was dead; Conner had snapped his neck, showing no remorse. The sound was haunting, like a skateboard being split into two pieces. His head bobbed to the side, his eyes and mouth still wide open.

Conner threw his body to the side of the room, the lifeless Psimon's body tumbling from the wall to floor, "Sweet dreams."

He felt odd, perhaps a better word to describe himself… strange. But at the same time, he felt good. Then, he began to laugh. It was not hysterical, nor was it fake. It was dark laugh, "This feels… amazing."

"Indeed it does," Desaad replied in agreement, "Do you know what it is?"

Conner looked at Desaad, remembering that he knows who he is, before looking at the ring, "Red Kryptonite?"

He nodded, "Capable of making even the most kind-hearted Kryptonians into the evilest of many."

Superboy grinned and gazed at it, "I love it."

Luthor was shocked to see what was before him. Desaad's experiments still worked. This was not what he wanted for Conner's life, and Red Kryptonite was never part of the plan to coax him into the Light. But knowing this organization of theirs, they would take further steps into achieving their goals, and this was one of them.

Conner looked straight at the businessman, "Hello, _father_."

Lex closed his eyes and breathed in, "Take off the ring, _son_."

He looked at it then back at Luthor, "No."

"Conner…"

"No," he shook his head in anger, his voice raised in disgust, "Do not say that name!"

"But that is your name, isn't it?"

In quick succession, he levitated and floated towards Luthor, to the point their foreheads were close to knocking each other and growled viciously, " _Conner Kent_ doesn't exist anymore."

"But I ask at least once, take off the ring."

"Fine." And he did. Nothing happened. He was exactly the same. The red eyes were still there.

Desaad interrupted, "With or without the ring, he won't change. My experiment worked. A permanent mark."

 _No. That's impossible._ Luthor thought.

"You can't hide in thoughts, _father_ ," Conner spoke suddenly, putting the ring back in and breathed slowly from the feeling, "I have telepathy, remember?"

"He's learning fast," Desaad commented, "Impressive."

Queen Bee attempted to leave the room, as the doors were still opened, but they were immediately closed shut. She was locked in. Conner had his left arm lifted; he was controlling it with his telekinesis.

"Most impressive," Desaad added, chuckling to himself.

…

 _ **Palo Alto**_

 _ **April 18, 05:30 PDT**_

"Wow." Was the only thing Wally said. He had been worried sick, thankfully that was passed since Artemis was back, but he was surprised to see M'gann with her. An upset M'gann, too. He refused to know why, because if he did, Dick was most likely involved; he would kill his best friend if he knew. But he wanted to anyways. It was Wally, he always wants to know everything.

"What happened?" He asked Artemis in their bedroom. He came in with a glass of water as she was sitting on the bed in a nightgown, wanting to retire for the night. M'gann slept in the guest room.

"Our cover was blown, Black Manta found out and told us he knew," She said, acceptingly taking the glass from Wally's hand, "Surprising thing is, he let us escape tonight."

"Why?"

"Because he loves Kaldur, who loves us as a family," she replied as she drank from the glass, "Manta also wants out, but if he did the same thing tonight, he'd be dead along with us."

He nodded, "But what's up with M'gann?"

"What do you mean?"

"Artemis, she's been quietly crying for two hours in the guest room. Why?"

She looked at him and sighed, "Girl stuff, you won't understand."

"Hey, hey, hey," he sat on the bed next to her, caressing her cheek, "Why wouldn't I understand?"

She glared at him, raising both her eyebrows, "Because it's you."

"Oh come on," he whined playfully, "We are in this together, Artemis, you can tell me."

"You sure?"

"I can handle anything. Hit me up."

"Okay," she said slowly and composed herself, "Conner was captured, just as planned even though we obviously wished he hadn't, while M'gann realized that she still loves him and now she can't admit it to him anymore."

"Why not?"

Artemis didn't say another word, "Lips are sealed now. You have to figure it out."

"That's it?" Wally pouted, "Can't you just tell me?"

"Nope."

The speedster started to think. He may be fast with his feet, but not with his brains. Dick was right on that. But it had been six years, so his brain processed even faster, thanks to his maturity and devotion to study. Then, he brows knitted together and he stood up and walked to the closet.

"Babe, where are you going?" Artemis crawled out of bed

"I'm going to Blüdhaven," he said with a dark voice as he opened the closet to get his jacket, "See you later."

"Wally," she warned, "Don't kill him."

"I won't," he kissed her forehead before walking out. Once outside the house, he murmured to himself, "But I really want to."

…

 _ **Blüdhaven**_

 _ **April 18, 6:12 EDT**_

Kaldur sat beside Dick, who was drinking coffee to stay awake. They stood beside the briefing table. On top of it was a headshot of Conner. Dick was out of his suit, now wearing a dark blue hoodie with a black t-shirt beneath and blue jeans.

"The Team will not enjoy hearing this news," Kaldur winced in sorrow, "They will most definitely loathe us forever."

"You're damn right on that," Dick sighed, taking a seat and slouching on a chair.

"Are you going to be okay, my friend?" Kaldur placed a caring hand on his shoulder.

He took a sip of his coffee, "No."

"What are you going to do?"

Before he could reply, the zeta-tube announcer came on, " _Recognized; Kid Flash, B-0-3."_

Wally was walking 'fast' towards Dick, "You son of a bitch!"

"Wally! Use your words…" Dick got up from his chair to calm his friend but to no avail.

"CONNER'S DEAD ISN'T HE!?" He exclaimed, "TELL ME!"

"I… We didn't want this to happen."

"Yeah? Well, no shit!"

"Wally, calm down." Kaldur patted Wally's shoulder, "Attempting to hurt someone else won't help."

After a moment's hesitation, he breathed and let go, "Well? Is he?"

"Yes. He's dead."

"How can you be so sure?"

Kaldur butted in, "My father, informed me that the Light declared Superboy dead from experimentation."

"What if… what if they were lying?" Wally gave an idea.

"The Light and the word lie doesn't match up." Dick pointed.

"I'm just saying, think about it," he said, "What if they were just trying to cover it up?"

"We can't suggest that, Wally. What we heard so far, it seems legit."

"And right now, we need to inform the League of this." Aqualad pointed out, "They need to know as well."

Dick then yawned, exhausted and yet stunned that the coffee wasn't working.

"You need to rest." Wally said.

"Yeah." Dick sat back down on the chair, gently placing his arms and head on the table, and started to snore immediately.

Kaldur looked at Wally, "Now, we still need to find a way to defeat the Reach."

"Right," The speedster crossed his arms, "Then what?"

The Atlantean sighed, "We mourn."

…

 _ **Apokolips**_

 _ **April 18, 23:57 UTC**_

"Is he ready?" A dark figure asked with a dark voice.

"Indeed he is, master." Desaad said through a hologram, "I have convinced him to join your partners, the Light, and as well as mentioning your involvement with them."

"Hmmm," he sat up straight on his chair, "What did you tell him?"

"That you, Darkseid, also known as Uxas, Leader of Apokolips, finds great potential in him, and that you can thrive under you."

"And?"

"He wants to speak with you… personally."

Darkseid grinned evilly, bringing one of his hands to his chin, rubbing it slowly, "Interesting."

"This is him." Desaad put him near the hologram, "Brilliant, is he not?"

"Brilliant indeed," Darkseid widened his grin, "What is your name Kryptonian?"

A smile appeared on his face, "Kon-El."

…

 _ **Okay, I'm gonna leave it there for now. Once again, sorry for the long wait, to anybody who's been dying to see more.**_

 _ **Yes, Psimon is dead, I know a lot of you might say that M'gann should be the one killing him eventually, if she wanted to or something like that. I understand 100%, but this is my story. Sorry if the beginning felt too rushed (in fact the whole chapter); I'm trying to move on and plan the next chapter.**_

 _ **Please review and let me know what you all thought.**_

 _ **Have a great day/night.**_


	9. this is not a chapter

_**Hello, unfortunately, this is not a chapter as the title reads. I think I pretty much abandoned this story but have no thought in giving it away. Instead, below will be all the ideas I had the last few chapters.**_

…

 ** _Chapter 9: Mourning_**

 _The Justice League come back; they're greeted by the Team._

 _Miss Martian informs them that Superboy is dead; Superman is upset._

 _The League hold a ceremony for Superboy and mourn._

 _M'gann, in the end, doesn't break up with La'gaan. She still loves Conner no matter what._

 _Kid Flash and Artemis go back to their home in Palo Alto miserably._

 _Nightwing and Aqualad speak to the Justice League; Nightwing declares his resignation from the Team… for good. Batgirl is to take his place._

 _Aqualad also informs the League about his father's act. They believe him… but not without caution._

 _Despite what is happening, the League still plans to attack the Reach by surprise. No holding back. They tell Nightwing this will be his last mission before retirement._

 _..._

 _In Apokolips, Darkseid and Steppenwolf discuss their plans for a full-on invasion on Earth._

 _Mongul, alien conqueror, tyrant and close ally to Darkseid, is requested to go to Earth on his War World to retrieve Superboy and Desaad._

…

 ** _Chapter 10: Out of Business_**

 _Superboy is taken to the Lights secret headquarters (location classified) and debriefed for a mission before Mongul arrives; to end the Light's partnership with the Reach. He accepts with absolute certainty._

 _Black Manta is in the Reach Ship, speaking to the Ambassador and Scientist in the briefing room. Black Beetle is guarding their conversation._

 _Suddenly, the entire League attack the Reach Ship. They reach the briefing room, ready to attack Black Beetle, who calls for two others just like him to assist him._

 _Once the other two Black Beetles arrive, they are brutally slaughtered by Superboy who arrives on the scene by blasting a hole from the top of the ship. Water is now beginning to flood the area._

 _The League is caught by surprise, especially the very first members of the Team (Aqualad, Miss Martian, Nightwing, Artemis and Kid Flash)._

 _Black Beetle charges at Superboy, who uses his telekinesis to control Black Beetle's scarab. The scarab is destroyed, revealing Black Beetle's weakest points._

 _Superman flies to Superboy and begins to restrain him. Superman sees Superboy's red eyes, causing him to go into shock and loses his grip on him._

 _Superboy mocks Superman, "You're weak."_

 _The Ambassador and Scientist attempt to leave but Superboy controls both of them with his telekinesis again and he mercilessly tears them apart (R-rated). He does the same to Black Beetle, who is weakened._

 _The League attempt to strike at Superboy, but he begins to speak in all of their minds using his telepathy, all of them individually, causing them to stop as he mockingly berates them. Black Manta is not affected._

 _Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian are strong enough to try and block him out of their minds, but he applies more pressure to their heads. Too much for them to control._

 _Superboy levitates and flies out of the area, reporting to the Light saying, "the Reach is out of business", and leaves Black Manta alone since he is unaware of Black Manta's previous actions._

…

 ** _Chapter 11: Shell Shocked_**

 _The War World arrives a day later, but the Justice League are still too shell shocked from Superboy's mental attack._

 _Mongul awaits Superboy and Desaad's arrival into the War World. They depart as soon as possible._

 _Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter quickly recover and they begin to help the others recover._

 _Two weeks later, La'gaan speaks to M'gann and tells her that it's better for her if she broke up with him. He explains that their love together is not as strong as her's and Superboy. She agrees._

 _Batman and Nightwing speak privately. Batman asks him Nightwing is still going to retire. He replies no, realizing that he and the team are going to get Superboy and bring him back no matter the cost._

 _One night, a small alien ship crash lands on earth. The League detects the ship (in the Great Basin Desert in Nevada) and goes to it. Superman gets their first._

 _A female wakes up as Superman opens the pod. A young woman with blonde hair, wearing a skin suit with an 'S' on its front._

 _Batman asks, "Who are you?"_

 _She responds, "I'm Kara Zor-El."_

…

 _In the War World, Superboy blankly gazes at the vast sight of deep space. He overlooks his memories of his and M'gann's love. Feeling disgusted by it, he erases them from his mind, permanently. Now Miss Martian, in his eyes, is no longer seen as a love interest… but as a setback to him from reaching his true 'purpose'._

…

 ** _Chapter 12: He's Gone!_**

 _Months after Kara Zor-El's arrival on Earth, she picks up on the name 'Supergirl'. She adapted to Earth's atmosphere quickly and soon after, joined the Team (Young Justice) as a 'replacement' dubbed by Miss Martian._

 _Batman is informed by Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) that Superman did not check in or report where he was. Batman shoves it off saying that Kryptonians are usually stubborn and that he's probably somewhere._

 _Having a single thought, Batman calls Flash and Wonder Woman to go search for Superman just in case. They report saying that he's nowhere to be found._

 _Batman suspects something is wrong. He then orders Flash to check the Fortress of Solitude. Flash responds saying that he already checked there. Wonder Woman reports saying Superman is not in the Watchtower either. Hal Jordan and John Stewart report that Superman is not in orbit as well._

 _They soon realize that Superman is gone._

…

 _ **That's it. It's very interesting but unfortunately, I just couldn't find any time to write all of this. I have become extremely busy with my life, spending time with family (because they are always important).**_

 _ **But that does not mean I'm ending this story here. There will be sequels to this story (quantity has not been decided yet), which will introduce some new characters from the comics as well as OC's.**_

 _ **The first sequel, "The Search", will begin in a weeks time once I get my head straight. :)**_

 _ **Hope you guys who stuck to this story are excited about it.**_

 _ **Have a great day/night.**_


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